Three things
by Vilutski
Summary: This is a HitsuKarin fanfic based on the manga, which means that Toshiro and Karin haven't met each other at all. This all happens after the Aizen-part. Karin and Yuzu are 15 and Ichigo 20. There will also be some IchiRuki, and maybe even other pairings.
1. Out of the class

My first Bleach fanfic, so characters might be a bit OCC (not just a bit).

Please review the story, and this is unbetaed so please don't mind the mistakes. Plus, I don't speak English natively.

Disclaimer: I own nothing and I'm making no money.

Karin was staring out of the window. Seriously bored. Teacher, Misato Ochi, was explaining something about the writing in board. It was a math class. Karin, who was somewhat like Ichigo, was pretty good in school, so she already knew what the Miss Ochi was talking about. In front of Karin, Yuzu was listening to the teacher, so Karin had no one to chat with.

_Why can't school already end? I want to go to my soccer practice already!_ ,Karin though with a sigh. She was still continuing her old hobby, and was pretty good at it. She had started to play in a local team and was already one of the top forwards in their team. Still, it was only the first lesson of the day. _This is gonna be a looong day._

Karin turned her gaze away from the window and buried her head into her arms. _Maybe I can sleep. I'm sure Miss Ochi won't mind,_ she thought and closed her eyes. The teacher's voice was fading as she was getting drowsier by every minute. Just as she was about to fall asleep someone knocked on the door. Karin sighed angrily. The person knocking had just prevented a nice nap.

Miss Ochi went to open the door and Karin gazed out of the window. She stared at the tree right next to the window with a smirk appearing in her face. The old oak was close enough to jump onto its big branch. Karin had tried it one day when she had been cleaning the classroom. Sure, they were on second floor, which meant she wouldn't die from the fall even if she missed. Plus, she was in the back row, so no one would see her jump.

"Yuzu!" Karin whispered to her twin. She turned in her seat. "What? You know I need to concentrate", she whispered back scowling lightly. Karin smirked wider. "Listen Yuzu, now that Miss Ochi is at the door, I'll get out of here. Don't worry; I'll see you at lunch." Yuzu raised her eyebrows surprised.

"How are you going to- KARIN!" Yuzu almost screamed as she looked her twin climb out of the window and jump out. Karin turned to look back with even wider smirk. "Could you bring my stuff to the roof at lunch? Thanks!" she laughed and climbed down from the tree and ran away. She was going to have couple of hours free time, so she was going to enjoy a nice nap somewhere. She just checked her uniforms pockets to make sure she had her cell phone with her in case Yuzu started to worry too much about her.

Back in the class room Yuzu was staring after her twin almost angrily. Almost being the key-word. After all, it was just the way Karin was. _Still, jumping out of the windows goes almost too far even for Karin,_ she thought with a scowl. She quickly cleared her sister's desk and turned to look at the door. Miss Ochi was still talking with someone.

"So class, here's our new exchange student", Miss Ochi said as she turned back towards the class. She walked to her desk and a white-haired boy followed. "My name is Hitsugaya Toushiro", the boy introduced himself and stared back at everyone with his extraordinary teal eyes. Every single girl, including Yuzu, decided immediately, that he was cute.

"So, we only have one free seat in the back next to Kurosaki Ka…rin? Kurosaki, where is your sister?" the Miss Ochi asked Yuzu, who blushed very deep. "Well, you see miss Ochi, she was bored", Yuzu explained. "So? And how on earth did she disappear?" the Miss Ochi continued. She was sure that the raven-haired Kurosaki had been in the class when it began.

"She jumped out of the window", the light brunette girl answered quietly, staring at her desk. "She WHAT?!" Miss Ochi exclaimed. She turned to look out of the window and was able to see a girl with shoulder length hair pulled in a ponytail running away. "You Kurosaki's sure are one crazy family", she sighed and patted Yuzu's head. "You seem to be the only sane one"

"Oh well, she's probably going to come back at lunch. Just give her the homework then, Kurosaki", she smiled. "Oh, and Hitsugaya, you can sit in the empty chair next to the empty chair next to the window", she said pointing at the desk. "Sure Miss Ochi", he replied sounding a bit bored.

"And Kurosaki Karin will help you get around the school and everything once she comes back", Miss Ochi continued and the whole class was just staring at her. _Is it okay for her to be so carefree?_ was a thought many of the teens had.

In the near park, Karin was happily sleeping without knowing anything about the new student or her being his helper. That was until her phone started beeping. Karin groaned and straightened up from the class. She pulled out her phone. _A message from Yuzu. So either Miss Ochi noticed I ran away or she's just worried._

Karin opened the message and read it. And reread it. And read it for third time. "I… have to help some new kid? Why? WHY? Gah, today was a bad day to jump out of a window", she muttered to herself getting up from the grass. A young woman with a stroller glanced at her worriedly and she smirked at her. _It must sound odd if someone complains about jumping out of a window._ She dusted her clothes and started to walk back to the school.

She knew that the rest of her family wouldn't have known about her escape, if the Karakura College wasn't so near the park. Bad for Karin, it was, and a certain orange-headed Substitute Shinigami was just heading back to his lesson.

"Karin! What are you doing here?" Ichigo called after his little sister. Karin stopped dead in her tracks and turned around to see her big brother in a black kimono. "Hi Ichi-nii", she tried to smile a sweet Yuzu-smile. Thing is, she doesn't smile sweet Yuzu-smiles. Ichigo scowled.

"Don't tell me you're ditching?" he said. Karin shot him an irritated glance. "Oh, and you mister Shinigami never did?" Ichigo smirked. "Always. But I had a reason. Well, I had a reason most times." Karin smirked back at her brother. "Well, I've got reason. I was bored."

"Ichigo! Come on!" both Kurosakis turned their heads towards the sound. Rukia was waving her arm farther from the two, and she too was in Shinigami outfit. "More Hollows?" Karin asked. Ichigo had told Karin everything after Aizen had lost and the espada had been destroyed. Yuzu was the only person in their family, who knew nothing about Shinigamis.

Ichigo smirked at Karin. "No, I think this time it's not because of a Hollow she wants me to hurry." Karin stared at her brother for few seconds before she blushed deep red. "There are things I don't need to know", she muttered and Ichigo laughed. "Then don't ask", he said ruffling Karin's hair. "But go back to school now", he continued before running after Rukia.

"Like you should be", Karin muttered before starting to walk again.

When Karin got back to school it was still five minutes before lunch break. Karin headed straight up to the roof and sat there to wait for Yuzu. After couple of minutes Yuzu's head peeked around the corner. "Hi Yuzu!" Karin greeted with a big smile. Yuzu smiled too. "Hi Karin. This is Toushiro."

A white-haired boy was walking behind Yuzu. He looked like he had always a scowl on his face and he was staring at his phone. Karin was only able to stare at him. His teal eyes moved from side to side as he read something from phone. The phone was in his right hand, while left was in his back pocket.

Karin, like every other girl in the school, thought right away that he was good looking. _The eyes, oh so nice eyes,_ was the only thing Karin was able to think about. Then Toushiro lifted his eyes from the phone and looked at Karin, who, of course, blushed deep red. "So you're that Karin", he said, teal eyes staring into dark a bit bluish eyes. (A.N. I checked so many pics and they were maybe grayish, but grey and blue are close colors and blue sounds prettier, so I'll use that.)

Karin didn't know how to react. It sounded like he wasn't the least interested if he was correct, and he was still scowling. "Yes, I'm _that _Karin. I hear I'm supposed to drag you around the school. But I think you can do it yourself, can't you, _Shorty?_" Karin asked teasing. An anger mark popped up in Toushiro's forehead and he snapped his phone shut.

"Did you just call me Shorty?" he asked slowly eyes closed. Karin smirked. "Yes, I did. You're short, aren't you, pretty boy?" Toushiro opened his eyes and walked closer Karin. Karin stood up and soon they were standing noses almost touching, Toushiro staring a bit down and Karin up (Karin is about 5 cm (about 2 inches) shorter). "As you can see Kurosaki, I'm taller than you!" he said, sounding almost proud.

"True, Hitsugaya, but I'm a girl if you hadn't noticed", Karin said smirking. Toushiro smirked evilly and was about to say something back when Yuzu interrupted. "Karin, do you want your lunch?" she asked smiling nicely. Karin looked at her confused but still nodded. "Good, then leave that poor little boy alone and sit down", Yuzu continued.

Karin shrugged and sat down next to Yuzu, who handed her a lunch box. "Hey, Kurosaki, do you think you can just shrug me off? And Kurosaki, I'm not 'that poor little boy'" Toushiro said and glared at the twins. Neither of them said anything, both just stared at their lunch boxes.

"Toushiro, you know, it's pretty irritating when you call us both 'Kurosaki'. For one, it's confusing, two, it's annoying, and three, I promise not to call you Shorty if you call me by my name. Deal?" Karin said and lifted her eyes to meet Toushiro's. He was silent for about a second as he stared at the genuinely smiling girl.

He smiled too. "You've got yourself a deal, Karin." They smiled at each other for a while, but the moment was soon interrupted by a loud grumble. Karin looked confused and Toushiro blushed. Yuzu started laughing. "You're hungry, aren't you?" she asked. Toushiro looked away with a grumpy expression and nodded.

"I have an extra lunch box. I was going to take it to nii-chan but he's a big boy so he'll survive", Yuzu smiled. Karin chuckled. "Or Rukia will help him survive. Just take it Toushiro." He smirked and took the box. He sat next to Karin and started eating.

First Toushiro was just listening as the twins chatted, but as Karin started talking about her soccer practice he joined the conversation. "You play soccer?" he asked, sounding a bit surprised. Karin turned to look at him, scowling. "Is it that surprising? Yes, I'm a girl. And yes I play soccer. It's not impossible." "She's good at it too!" Yuzu praised her sister.

"Hey, I believe that girls can play. I'm just surprised 'cause I can play some soccer too" Toushiro said trying to calm Karin down. She raised her eyebrows. "Oh, you can?" Toushiro smirked. "Yes, and I think I'm pretty good." Karin smirked too. "We'll see about that."

"Is that a challenge?" Toushiro asked raising an eyebrow. "Yes, pretty boy, yes it is", Karin said and stood up. "Can you come over to the soccer field today? My practice ends at five." Toushiro stood up too. "I'll see you there then. But let's make it a bet."

"Oh, this sounds good. How about the loser will do three things for the winner? They can be anything from a 'get me a coffee' to 'write a book about me'", Karin suggested. Toushiro smirked even wider than before. "You don't know what you got yourself into. It's a bet!" he said putting his hand in front of him. "It's a bet!" Karin agreed grabbing the hand. "Don't start crying when I beat you Toushiro!"

Yuzu watched the two often in silence. _They're really similar. And seem to like each other's company. I haven't seen Karin this comfortable around any guy since we started high school,_ she thought and smiled happily. When Karin was younger she had only guys as friends. Then Heita had asked her to start date him. It had changed Karin's friendship with the boys. She wanted to only be their friend, and always feared she was too flirty around them, so she became really awkward around them.

"By the way Karin, are you still gonna make me find my way around the school by myself?" Toushiro asked as he and the girls were walking the stairs down from the roof. "Oh that. Well, I guess I'll show you around as much as you need. But now, let's head back to the class", Karin answered looking at her feet to hide her pink cheeks.

As they entered the room Miss Ochi turned to glare them. "Kurosaki. I see you've decided to come back now. And I see you already met Hitsugaya. I think I'll still have to call Isshin. After all, Ichigo never jumped out of the window when he ran from the room. I really hope you can use the door after this."

"Don't worry, I'll use the door. And you don't need to call the old goat-face. I guess I'll tell him myself…" Karin said blushing a little. Yuzu chuckled softly and even Toushiro could prevent a little chuckled from escaping. "Oh shut up you guys", Karin sighed as she walked back to her seat. This time she was whishing for the school day to end even more than before.


	2. First day of school

This'll be the first chapter from Toushiro's point of view.

And just to make it clear: _This kind of text means Toushiro is thinking, or speaking in his mind __**and this means that it's Hyorinmaru talking to Toushiro.**_

Disclaimer: I own nothing…

**Toushiro's POV**

It was annoying. Really annoying. Sure, it was nice to go to the real world for change, but still it was annoying. First, why did it have to be always Karakura town that Hollows like! It would be nice if we could go somewhere else sometimes. And Rukia and Ichigo were living in here, so why would a captain be needed.

Second, couldn't we find better place to say than Orihime's? Okay, it is nice of her to let us stay at her place every time we come over. But she really can't cook… Or that's just probably only my opinion, since Matsumoto seems to love her food.

And third, the biggest reason for the annoyingness, why on earth I had to be a high school student! I mean, I can search and protect people with high reiatsu also without going to school. Matsumoto of course loves the idea of me being in school.

"Think about it Captain, you can find yourself a cute girlfriend!" she exclaimed when I left for my first day. I turned to look back at the window she was waving from. "I'm not here to find a girlfriend! And you know what everybody thinks about human-Shinigami -relationships", I answered glaring at her. Human-Shinigami-relationships weren't forbidden, but Captain Yamamoto didn't like them at all, since he had lost some good Shinigamis because of them. They had run away to be together with their human lovers.

"Aww, but Captain!" Matsumoto whined, "I want to help you to pick an outfit for your first date!" I groaned. "Just make sure the paperwork will be done when I get home", I said and started walking to the school. I was already late, so it didn't matter if I was even later there.

The school building was a labyrinth. It took forever to find the student counselors office. When I had caller earlier to tell I was coming today (since the Soul Society had taken care of all the paperwork) I was told to check something with her first.

After getting my schedule from her, she escorted me to my new class. I was surprised to see it was a classroom I had visited 4 years earlier. That time I was there to meet Ichigo. Now I was going to be student in that classroom. The counselor wished me good luck and left me standing alone in front of the door. With a deep sigh I knocked the door.

A brown haired woman opened the door. "Good morning. My name is Hitsugaya Toushiro. I'm a new exchange student. I'm sorry that I'm late", I told the woman. "I didn't know a new student was going to come to my class. Well, the more the merrier", she said smiling. "My name is Misato Ochi, and I'm going to be your teacher."

I smiled politely. The woman seemed to be much nicer than the teachers in Shinigami Academy. "Oh right. Do you have the papers about your previous school?" she asked. I nodded and handed her the papers (made by Soul Society). She glanced them briefly. "Everything seems to be fine. Do you have your books?"

I nodded again. She handed the papers back and smiled. "Now, we were having a math lesson, so I hope you can just pick up on what we are doing. But first introduce yourself. Then I'm going to check where you can sit. And I'll make someone help you to find your way around the school, so don't worry."

I realized she thought I was nervous about the new school. Well, most new students probably were. I was just hoping the day would end soon so that I could go do something else, _anything else,_ than this. Miss Ochi turned back and faced the class.

"So class, here's our new exchange student", she said as she walked to her desk. I followed her inside. Every single pair of eyes in the room was aimed at me. I let my gaze move across the room. A bunch of normal looking kids, ten guys and 13 girls. "My name is Hitsugaya Toushiro", I told and saw that most of the girls were blushing. _I guess Matsumoto was right about me being cute. I hope they won't follow me anywhere. I have heard from Ichigo that some girls can be huge fan girls_, I thought immediately.

Miss Ochi had checked the student list and started talking again, seeing that I was not going to continue. "So, we only have one free seat in the back next to Kurosaki Ka…rin? Kurosaki, where is your sister?" she asked staring first at the two empty seats in the back row and then at a small brunette girl in the second last row next to the window.

_Kurosaki… Like Ichigo Kurosaki! Did that guy have siblings?_ I thought as a stared at the girl. She didn't look anything like him. _Maybe it's just a common name_.

"Well, you see Miss Ochi, she was bored", the girl explained blushing a little. "So? And how on earth did she disappear?" Miss Ochi asked. _Maybe she's that higher reiatsu which is just going farther from the building,_ I wondered. But that would only support the theory of Kurosaki having siblings.

The brunette girl lowered her gaze to the desk and said: "She jumped out of the window."

Okay, if Kurosaki had any siblings, that girl was his sister for sure. Who else would jump out of a window during a lesson? _Maybe I could try that too._

"She WHAT?!" Miss Ochi yelled. Clearly students jumping out of windows weren't part of her normal day. She turned to look out of the window, and I followed her gaze. I was able to see someone back haired wearing the girls' uniform running away. The reiatsu was coming from that person.

"You Kurosakis sure are one crazy family", Miss Ochi sighed and patted the brunette Kurosaki. "You seem to be the only sane one."

_If there is one crazy Kurosaki I know, it surely is Ichigo. So if that Kurosaki girl has crazy family, Ichigo has to be part of it. Or all Kurosakis are crazy in general,_ I thought to myself.

"Oh well, she's probably going to come back at lunch. Just give her the homework then, Kurosaki", the teacher said smiling. _She sure is carefree. And if she calls both of the Kurosaki girls Kurosaki, how can they tell which she means. And why do I care about that_. Well, maybe school was going to be a bit less boring than I had thought.

"Oh, and Hitsugaya, you can sit in the empty chair next to the empty chair next to the window", she said pointing at the desk. "Sure Miss Ochi", I replied and walked to the desk. "And Kurosaki Karin will help you get around the school and everything once she comes back", she said turning to the blackboard and started writing something. _She sure has interesting teaching methods._

I didn't bother looking at what she wrote. I had had enough time to learn math perfectly. Instead I was staring at the Kurosaki girl. _The other one is called Karin, but I don't think the teacher mentioned her name._ Yes, the teacher had only called her Kurosaki.

I noticed something. The brunette girl was wearing two strawberry pins. _Hmm... That's something linking her with Ichigo,_ I thought. Then again, any girl could be wearing strawberry pins. I turned my head to look out of the window. There was a big oak. _That Karin must have used that tree to help_ _with jumping_, I thought.

"Umm, Toushiro?" I heard a gentle voice call my name. I turned my head back to the Kurosaki girl. She was looking at me and blushing madly. "Yeah?" I asked, trying to sound nice. She seemed so small and shy that I just couldn't be the usual scowling me.

"I wanted to apologize for my sister. I know she won't. She's a bit of a carefree person", she smiled. "Hey, what's your name?" I asked suddenly. "Oh sorry, I should have introduced myself. My name is Kurosaki Yuzu", she answered. Then she just turned back to her desk and I stared out of the window again.

"Toushiro?" I heard Yuzu calling me shyly when the teacher announced it was time for lunch. I looked at her. "I'm going to roof to eat lunch with Karin. I think you should meet her before the next class, since she'll be the one showing our school to you", she told. I just shrugged and followed after her as she made her way through the hallways.

We walked stairs up to the roof. Just then my phone beeped. It was a message from Matsumoto. She was still ranting something about me getting a girl friend. I sighed and started to write a reply.

Yuzu peeked around the corner of the door to the roof and I heard a happy voice greet her. "Hi Yuzu!" "Hi Karin", Yuzu answered smiling. Yuzu walked towards her sister and I decided to follow. "This is Toushiro." She told her sister, but I still didn't look up, I wanted to finish the message first.

I sent the message and lifted my head to look at the girl in front of me. She had her raven hair in a ponytail, some strands had already escaped. She was staring at me with her deep dark eyes. When our eyes met, she blushed just like all the other girls who had met me today. But there was something different in her.

She had no make-up, and her uniform was a bit messy, looking like she didn't quite care how it was. She had long legs and she was a bit skinny, not in the anorectic way. She looked like a sprinter.

"So you're that Karin", I said trying to keep my face normal, trying not to show that I had just stared at her legs and figure. I was surprised when she got a bit angry with what I said. "Yes, I'm _that _Karin", she said emphasizing the word that. _Ups, that might have been a bit rude. Hey, why should I care if I'm polite to her or not, _I thought.

"I hear that I'm supposed to drag you around the school", she continued, still sounding pissed. "But I think you can do it yourself, can't you, _Shorty?" _Okay, now she did it! Why should I be polite to her if she wasn't polite to me?

"Did you just call me short?" I asked snapping my phone shut, feeling the anger in my voice, and closed my eyes. "Yes I did. You're short, aren't you, pretty boy?" she asked, and I could hear the smirk from her voice. _Did she call me pretty boy? Is that a good or a bad thing? And why am I thinking about this!?_ I thought as I opened my eyes and walked closer to her. She stood up as I did.

When we were so close our noses were just millimeters from touching I said: "As you can see Kurosaki, I'm taller than you!" It was nice to think I was taller that a Kurosaki, since Ichigo happens to be taller than me. I was starting to smirk a little, but it only caused the raven haired girl to smirk even wider.

"True, Hitsugaya, but I'm a girl if you hadn't noticed." Oh, I had noticed that, it was for sure. When I had walked closer to her, I wasn't able to stop glancing at her figure when she had stood up. And she was using my last name! A Kurosaki using my last name! I was just about to tell her that when Yuzu spoke up.

"Karin do you want your lunch", she asked smilingly. Karin turned her eyes away from me and nodded. "Good, then leave that poor little boy alone and sit down", the brunette told. Karin looked at her and just shrugged and sat down next to Yuzu. Somehow it pissed me off how she just ignored me.

"Hey, Kurosaki, do you think you can just shrug me off? And Kurosaki, I'm not 'that poor little boy'", I said a bit angrily, but neither of the twins said anything, neither of them even lifted their eyes from their lunch boxes. _Lunch box… I don't have one. God, I'm gonna be so hungry!_

Finally Karin spoke up. ""Toushiro, you know, it's pretty irritating when you call us both 'Kurosaki'. For one, it's confusing, two, it's annoying, and three, I promise not to call you Shorty if you call me by my name. Deal?"she said and lifted her eyes to meet mine. She was smiling kindly, not a smirk and the smile made Toushiro's mind go blank for a second. _**One prodigy you are when a girl smiling can make you forget even your words,**_ Hyorinmaru chuckled in my mind. _It's so nice that you're finding it amusing, dear friend, _I answered and he chuckled again, but didn't make any more comments.

I smiled back at her, just a little smile. "You've got yourself a deal, Karin", I told and we just stared at each other. _You know, she's kinda pretty. And looks a bit like Ichigo. Okay, now I'm creeping myself out._

Of course my stomach had to remind me that not eating breakfast was a bad idea. But Orihime's cooking was never good for me. But now I was really hungry. My stomach grumbled loudly and Karin looked around confused. _Why is my stomach so loud? Shouldn't I be able to make it longer without food? But it is a good thing Matsumoto isn't here now. She would be telling me something about how growing kids need more food._

Yuzu laughed. I turned my head to look at her, feeling my cheeks burn. _Am I blushing? Oh, thank God Matsumoto isn't here!_

"You're hungry, aren't you?" the brunette asked. She sounded really much like a mother worrying over a neighbor's kid. I looked away, trying to not let the girls see that I was blushing, and nodded. I was hungry, there was no denying it.

"I have an extra lunch box. I was going to take it to nii-chan but he's a big boy so he'll survive", Yuzu continued. _So they have a big brother. He could be Ichigo… _Next to Yuzu Karin chuckled. "Or Rukia will help him survive. Just take it Toushiro", the raven told me. _They know Rukia. How many Kurosakis know a person called Rukia? They have to be Ichigo's sisters!_ I decided.

I smirked, happy that I finally had an answer to my wondering, and took the box Yuzu was offering. I sat next to Karin and started happily eating. _This is so good! Did Yuzu make this? Or Karin? I remember Rukia telling me that Ichigo's mother is dead, and I really doubt Ichigo's cooking abilities_.

The girls started talking about regular things: school, teachers, other girls, about a book, and those kind of subjects. I ate quietly, listening the girls chat. Karin then started talking about her soccer practice today. _She plays soccer? Well, that would explain her physique. _I still wanted to confirm it.

"You play soccer?" I asked, sounding a bit surprised, mostly because of I realized how this was not the way I normally behaved. Usually I would have sat there and said nothing. Karin turned to look at me, once again looking a bit angry.

"Is it that surprising? Yes, I'm a girl. And yes I play soccer. It's not impossible", she said. "She's good at it too!" Yuzu said proudly. "Hey, I believe that girls can play. I'm just surprised 'cause I can play some soccer too", I said quickly. It was partly true. I know how to play soccer, and I think that I'm good at it.

Karin, still staring at me, raised her eyebrows. "Oh, you can?" she asked, challenging. I smirked. "Yes, and I think I'm pretty good." Now Karin was smirking too. "We'll see about that", she told.

"Is that a challenge?" I asked raising my eyebrow. She was so on! "Yes, pretty boy, yes it is", she said standing up. _**She's calling you pretty boy again,**_ Hyorinmaru remarked, though he didn't need to. _I know. I wonder what she means by that. __**That she thinks you're good looking and know it?**__ Why do I bother talking with you? __**Because you love me so much**_, the dragon cooed. _Okay, if you don't quit that, I'm going to use you as a knife sharpener! __**You're mean.**_

"Can you come over to the soccer field today? My practice ends at five", Karin asked. I stood up too; it was annoying to look up to people when I talk with them. "I'll see you there then. But let's make it a bet", I said smirking even wider. _Smirking hurts my cheeks, but I can't stop it. __**And you're telling me this because? **__Oh, just forget it._

"Oh, this sounds good. How about the loser will do three things for the winner? They can be anything from a 'get me a coffee' to 'write a book about me'", Karin suggested. I had to admit, it was a good idea. _Maybe I should make a bet with Matsumoto sometime. And make her too all the paperwork so that I can take a nap!_

"You don't know what you got yourself into. It's a bet!" I said putting my hand in front of me. I looked at Karin. She was still smirking. "It's a bet!" she agreed and grabbed my hand. Her hand was smaller than mine, and the skin felt warm and soft. "Don't start crying when I beat you Toushiro!" Karin continued.

"You're the one who'll be crying, even though I don't want to make girls cry", I told back. "Aww, I'm an exception to you. That's so nice", she cooed at me. We sat back down, still talking about the bet and both claiming how we were going to win.

"By the way Karin, are you still gonna make me find my way around the school by myself?" I asked. The school was a big labyrinth after all. Karin looked at me as we left the roof. "Oh that. Well, I guess I'll show you around as much as you need. But now, let's head back to the class" she answered and turned her head away from me. _Why doesn't she look at me? Is she still angry about something? No, she would say that._

Soon we were back at our classroom. Miss Ochi was already waiting. She glared at us, or rather at Karin as we enter the room. "Kurosaki. I see you've decided to come back now. And I see you already met Hitsugaya. I think I'll still have to call Isshin. After all, Ichigo never jumped out of the window when he ran from the room. I really hope you can use the door after this", she said.

_Isshin? Oh, that must be their father's name. And finally somebody made clear that Ichigo really is their brother.__** You were still wondering about that? Are you sure you are a prodigy? **__Shut it, knife-sharpener,_ I told the annoying dragon. Finally he was silent, pretending to be pouting, but he wasn't really mad. This was our way of communicating nowadays. When I was younger I was much more respectful as Hyorinmaru constantly reminded me.

"Don't worry, I'll use the door. And you don't need to call the old goat-face. I guess I'll tell him myself…" Karin said blushing and staring at the floor. _Old goat-face? Does she mean her dad. Weird nickname._ Yuzu laughed next to me and even I found Karin's earlier behavior amusing, and couldn't stop a chuckle from escaping.

"Oh shut up you guys!" Karin sighed as she walked across the room to her seat. Yuzu and I followed her. _This isn't going to be ever near as boring as I thought_, I smiled as I sat down. Karin was a really interesting person._ I wish the school would end already!_

There. I know it's boring that I just wrote the first chapter again, but I wanted to make the first chapter clearer. I'm not sure if I'll continue using Toushiro's and Karin's POV or just do like I did with the first chapter. Well, I might use all of those.

Please remember, the more reviews I get, the more I will update! So review please!


	3. Out of the window again

**Sorry, that this chapter took a little bit longer than the previous. It just seemed to be wrong and boring, so I had to rewrite it a couple of times. My update speed might change from time to time. It depends on my inspiration, the amount of reviews and how much schoolwork I have. **

**This chapter will be mostly from Karin's POV since oOoHKoOo asked if I could do one chapter from her POV. I can only say that it's way harder than Toushiro's POV!**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Bleach. But it's annoying there is only one episode with Toushiro and Karin, so if I did own Bleach, there would be so much more HitsuKarin!! Sadly, I still don't. Maybe someday….**

**Karin's POV**

_If this lesson ends now, I promise I'll never forget to do homework again_, I prayed in my head. Of course, to no avail. As if school wasn't bad usually. But now it had to be pure torture! I wanted to get out so that I could beat Toushiro! But we still had school left, and when I get excited about something, time seems to slow down. So now I was seriously bored and frustrated.

I shot a glance at Toushiro. He was staring in front of him, probably deep in his thoughts. His teal eyes were half-closed. _Maybe I can make the rest of the day a bit funnier_. I picked up my eraser and threw it at him to get his attention. Just as it was about to hit his cheek, his hand shot up and he caught it midair.

"Wow. You got good reflexes!" I told him surprised. He looked at the eraser and then at me and shrugged. "I just tend to notice someone throwing things at me especially when they swing their arm so much before throwing", he answered face in his usual scowl, but I thought he sounded a bit amused.

"Did I swing my arm? I didn't realize. Next time you won't notice!" I said and laughed. "Oh, you'll never hit me", he said now even looking a bit amused, tossing my eraser back to me. Unfortunately, he threw it a bit too fast and it flew past me. Right out from the still open window. "Toushiro!" I growled at him. He smirked.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to." I glared at him. He smirked even wider. "Go get it", I told him. "What, by jumping out of the window? That stuff is something you do Karin", he answered, trying to look innocent. Let's just say, he's not good at looking innocent. I glared at him and looked out of the window trying to spot my eraser. What I saw made my eyes widen.

There was Ichigo in his Shinigami outfit, looking at me a bit pissed. He was holding my eraser. He noticed I was looking and pointed the ground in front of him. _Come here. _I made a confused face. He shook his head and mouthed: _I need to talk to you._ I sighed and mouthed back: _fine._

I looked to Miss Ochi, noticing she had turned her back to the class. I climbed to the windows ledge and swung my legs outside. I looked at Toushiro, who was staring at me, eyes widened, like he didn't believe I was about to jump from a window again. Probably didn't. But then again, he didn't know me yet. I smirked at him and mouthed:_ I'll be back in a sec_.

I turned to look out and saw that Ichigo was staring at me, eyes really wide and mouth open. I was just about to jump for the second time today when I heard an angry yell: "KUROSAKI! What do you think you're doing?" I slowly turned my head to look at Miss Ochi who was staring at me in disbelief.

"Well, you see Miss Ochi…" I started. "Oh, you're going to have a sensible reason for this, aren't you?" she asked sarcastically. I thought for a second before I smirked. "Yes, I do have a good reason." Miss Ochi raised her eyebrow questioning. "Toushiro threw my eraser out of the window", I said quickly and pointed at him. _That sounded reeeally mature, _I thought. Just as I expected Miss Ochi turned her head a bit to look at Toushiro and I took advantage of it and jumped.

This time, I missed the tree. But thankfully, Ichigo realized I was going to do something stupid and caught me before I hit the ground. "Thanks, that would have hurt", I smirked at him. He rolled his eyes. "Why did you jump out of the window? You could have told you were going to bathroom", he asked putting me down.

"I thought you were in a hurry, so I decided not to waste your time. Could I by the way have my eraser back?" I asked. He raised his eyebrows. "So this _is_ your eraser. Why did you throw it out?" he asked giving me the eraser back. "Because I wanted to", I told, not wanting to explain I tried to threw it at a new classmate. "But what did you want to talk about? I doubt this is a normal chat, considering you're in Shinigami outfit and standing outside our school. How long did you stand here?"

"Not long, I just had arrived when you already threw your eraser at me. I was just about to shout for you", he said. "But the reason I am here is because I need you to go straight home after school. No soccer today for you." I looked at him, a bit shocked. Did he actually think I was going to listen to him?

"Why should I skip my practice? Because _you_ say so?" I asked glaring at him. "Karin, it's for your own safety. The amount of Hollows is growing quickly, so I want you to be somewhere else than on an open field", he told. _Okay, I'm not going to be as mean as I would be if this wasn't because of he's worried about me. _"I can beat a couple of Hollows myself, and you know it", I answered.

Ichigo sighed. "Yes I know you can. I'm the one who taught you everything you know about Hollows. But what about dad and Yuzu? And I have already seen some Menos, and you know that you can't beat those." I knew immediately that he had a good point. The rest of our family wasn't able to see Hollows, but Yuzu at least could see normal ghosts, maybe not clearly but still, which meant she had higher reiatsu than an average person. And I once had tried to beat a Menos. Let's just say, it was a good thing Ichigo was nearby. (A.N. If you don't remember, this is based on the manga, so no Karakura Heroes, or whatever it is. Plus, Karin doesn't fight only using a football, she also uses martial arts.)

So, because Ichigo had to be killing the Hollows around the town, he wanted to know we would be safe. And I and Yuzu would be safer together. "Fine. But I made a deal with a friend to meet at the soccer field at five. And I am not going to cancel that!" I told. Toushiro might think I was about to chicken out. Ichigo looked at me a bit oddly. "You have a date?" he asked, and I almost choked on air. "A date?" I stuttered.

_Really? A date? What is he thinking? Oh, it does sound a bit like a date when you think about it. But I just met Toushiro, and it is only to find out which of us rules the soccer field._ "No! I made a bet with a friend", I told him a bit angrily. Why did he always have to make assumptions?

"Is this friend a guy?" Ichigo asked. Now that's just too much. "So what if he is! Can't I have guys as friends?" I glared at him. "That's not the problem. You're going to be alone with him, so think about what ideas he might get", Ichigo said sounding defensive. I thought about it. And there was no way I could imagine Toushiro getting any ideas. Or at least the way my idiot brother meant.

"I don't know him that well! He's new in our class!" I told Ichigo. "But still, you're going out to meet him after school", he noted. I sighed. _Sometimes I like having an older brother. Now I wish he would at least be a bit less concerned about my life."_We're going to play soccer. That's all. And if it makes you feel better, I'll take Yuzu with me. That way she won't be alone", I said, getting bored arguing with Ichigo.

"What about dad?" he asked. "What about him? You mean I would have to take him with me too? Oh, dream on Ichi-nii!" Seriously, has he hit his head on a Hollow too hard or is his brain just slow. He laughed. "Well, I guess I'll be near our house at five. But take Yuzu with you. I don't want you to be alone with a guy somewhere where no one can see you, understand me?"

"Okay Ichi-nii. I guess I understand you. But seriously, you need to relax sometimes", I told with another sigh. "Oh, Rukia helps me relax just fine", he said smirking. An unwanted picture came into my mind. "I told you, I don't want to know about that!" I said blushing because of the thought. Ichigo laughed and turned his back at me ready to leave.

"Oh, one more thing Karin. You might be seeing some other Shinigamis than me and Rukia. Soul Society send 10th Division captain and vice-captain to help with the Hollows and find out why are they once again gathering in here", he said over his shoulder before he disappeared leaving a cloud of dust after him. "You and your shunpo", I muttered. _Sometimes he's just a big show off._

"Kurosaki! How long are you going to stand there talking to yourself?" Miss Ochi yelled from the window. I looked up and realized that she, Yuzu and Toushiro and some other students who sat near windows were staring at me. _This must have looked so odd. I just stood here talking to myself._ "Sorry Miss Ochi", I smiled and ran towards the front doors. I might be able to get out of the using the window, but I still wasn't able to get back the same way.

Still I didn't miss the expression on Toushiro's face. He looked surprised and annoyed._ It's understandable to be surprised if you see someone talking to thin air, but annoyed? It's almost like he had heard everything Ichi-nii said._

**Toushiro's POV**

I watched as the raven Kurosaki ran towards the front doors of the school. I was really surprised. I had realized she had pretty high reiatsu for a human, but I hadn't even imagined that she would be able to see Hollows and Shinigamis. But now it was clear that she was able to see and also knew about everything. _And Kurosaki even agreed when she said she could beat some Hollows. Is she hiding her reiatsu, or why does it feel this low. It can't really be this low, or she would die immediately when she would try to fight a Hollow._

I had always known that Ichigo wanted to protect every one close to him, so it wasn't that big surprise that he was worried about his family. What was a surprise was the fact that he was trying to protect Karin from guys. What was the point with that? It was only natural that she would one day get a boyfriend and get married.

_I feel sorry for the poor boy she'll date. __**Why? She's pretty, funny and brave. A dream girl for many guys, **_Hyorinmaru interrupted my thoughts. _ I meant the Ichigo part. He seemed like he wouldn't accept her boyfriend easily. __**So you think she's pretty?**_ the dragon asked. _What does that has to do with anything?__** You're still young. So it has everything to do with everything**_. _You're confusing me. _Hyorinmaru just chuckled.

_But I'm surprised she didn't want to cancel our soccer game. I would have understood if she wanted to move it another day._ I heard a knock from the door and a widely grinning Karin came in. "Found it", she showed the eraser to the class, causing most of the people chuckle. I just grinned amusedly.

**Karin's POV**

I made my way back to my desk, still grinning a bit embarrassedly. "Karin, I really don't understand you", Yuzu whispered when I walked past her. "Sorry, I guess I'm a weird one", I smirked at her as I sat down. Yuzu shook her head a sighed deeply. _Poor Yuzu. She really has one crazy family, _I thought.

We were the craziest family I had ever known. An over-childish dad, an over-protective not quite human boy and a nice little girl plus me. _I wonder where we would be without Yuzu. Well, we would have probably died because of no one else can really cook._

"Karin, you do realize how childish it was to tell everyone I threw your eraser out of the window?" Toushiro asked. I turned to look at him and frowned. "Yeah, but I didn't really have a choice. I had to redirect Miss Ochi's attention for a moment", I told. We sat a moment in silence, half-listening what Miss Ochi was explaining. "Toushiro, is it okay if Yuzu will come to look when I beat you in our bet?" I asked a bit hesitantly after a moment. It would be hard to explain why I really needed her there.

_I could just say, I need to have her there, because I'm afraid that monsters she can't she will come and eat her. Okay, maybe not._

"Why do you want me to be there Karin? I need to cook dinner", Yuzu told, turning around. As expected, she had been listening carefully my chat with Toushiro. "Yuzu, please, just this once! I'll make it up to you. I can help you cook!" I suggested. Yuzu shuddered. "Maybe you can make it up some other way. Your cooking is pretty bad Karin", she told kindly. It really was kindly. My cooking was uneatable. Last time I made dinner (spaghetti Bolognese) Ichigo had to spend a week in our clinic because of a major food poisoning.

"I'm fine if you bring Yuzu with you. After all, it will be quite late when we finish and I don't really want to be the reason you have to walk home alone so late", Toushiro said causing me to spin my head really quick to look at him. _He's concerned? Of my well-being? I'm so confused! _

I opened and closed my mouth trying to say something but my brain seemed to have frozen. "You look like a fish Karin", Toushiro remarked. I snapped my mouth close and blushed. Yuzu giggled, only making my blush worse. "You're really evil", I muttered to Toushiro, who was once again smirking at me. "Glad you like me."

"Kurosaki, Kurosaki, Hitsugaya, is it too much to ask from you to concentrate on what I'm saying rather than on flirting?" Miss Ochi interrupted us. Yuzu blushed and muttered "Sorry, Miss Ochi" turning to look in back at the black board and even I blushed a bit. _That wasn't flirting. All though, it might sound that to someone who would be listening. But this is the way I converse. At least the way I converse with Toushiro!_

I glanced at Toushiro, and realized he was looking at me from the corner of his eye. I smirked at him and he smiled a little back at me. The bell rang telling us that school was finally over for today.

I quickly jumped to my feet. "Finally!" Miss Ochi shook her head, smilingly. "It was just one day. I would cheer when summer vacation began, not when one day is over", Toushiro said standing up from his desk. I turned to look at him. "That's funny. You don't seem like a guy who would be cheering. I definitely don't want to miss that", I smiled and he sighed.

I waited until Yuzu had packed her stuff, before we left the room. I was surprised when I noticed Toushiro was also waiting. "I'm not going to my practice today, so we can walk home together", I told Yuzu. She seemed to be surprised. "Why? You like to play", she noted. I just shrugged. "I don't feel like going today, and I can play today, when I play with Toushiro."

"Okay sure. It's nice to walk home with you. We could stop by the grocery store. We're all out of milk and eggs", she said not questioning anymore. That's one of the good things about Yuzu. She notices when I don't want to or can't tell something and won't press the subject. "Where is the nearest grocery store?" Toushiro asked. Both I and Yuzu turned to look at him.

"Hey, I just moved here, and I have to cook for myself!" he said sounding almost defensive. "It's not far, but if you live in different way than we, then there might be one closer somewhere else", I told him. "You can come with us to the shop and see if it's close to your home. Can you cook well?" _Yuzu is already curious about that, _I smiled. Yuzu was really curious when it came to cooking. She was a great cook, and was always collecting new recipes. I was sure she'd make a great chef one day.

"Thanks", Toushiro said, and I was almost able to see a genuine smile. _There's a kid that surely never smiles!_ I reached forward and pulled the corners of his mouth up with my fingers. "There. That's called a smile. Try it sometimes", I told before letting go. Toushiro stood frozen in spot staring at me like I was crazy.

"Let's just go", I sighed and walked out of the classroom. Yuzu and Toushiro followed after me. The teacher was only person left in the class and I could hear a small sigh from the room. "To be young and in love."

I decided to ignore it, and just dragged Toushiro and Yuzu with me out of the school towards the grocery store.

**There it is. Please review!**


	4. One more Shinigami

**Here's the fourth chapter. It's in both Toushiro's and Karin's POV. **

**Remember that when you review, I update faster.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.**

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**Toushiro's POV**

I was following after cheerfully chatting Kurosaki twins, still feeling a bit surprised and odd. Absentmindedly I touched the corner of my mouth and a scene was replayed in my head.

_*Flashback*_

_Karin reached her arms towards me and pulled the corners of my mouth up with her finger. _

"_That's called a smile. Try it sometimes", she said scowling a bit before she let go and turned to drag me and Yuzu out of the class._

_*End of Flashback*_

_Why did she want me to smile? Smiling might make people feel more comfortable, that's true, but I'm supposed to be a captain! No one would respect me if I walked around all smiley!_

_**Maybe she just wants to see you smile sometimes. You know, you could smile when only she's around. But you're right about the not smiling part when you're with your division. They would think you've lost your mind**_, Hyorinmaru once again joined my thinking.

_Why should I treat her differently than I treat everyone else? I mean, she's just a human girl, _I told the dragon almost angrily.

_**Well, she seems be a great deal to you. You even agreed to play soccer with her! And she ain't just a human girl, for one, she can see Hollows and Shinigamis, and two, she's a Kurosaki.**_

_Oh, you just had to bring the Kurosaki part up. I think her brother would skin me alive if he knew I was the one she'll play soccer with!_ I snapped at Hyorinmaru. Curse him, and his eternal intelligence, and the times when he brings things up.

_**Are you saying you would lose against Kurosaki Ichigo?**_ Hyorinmaru asked, and I could hear the smirking in his voice.

_No, but if he decided to attack me when I'm not prepared he could do some serious damage! He has that hollowication and everything!_

_**Maybe you should just hide with his sister**_, Hyorinmaru told with a laugh. Okay, that dragon has seriously lost his mind.

_What is that supposed to mean?_ I asked him.

_**Oh, nothing. You will realize it when it's time,**_ he said. I tried to question him further, but he remained silent.

_You know, you're probably the most annoying zanpakutou there is!_

_**Oh, I think that Haineko and Houzukimaru are both pretty annoying. Or, maybe they're just lazy. And I've heard that Zangetsu has really annoying way of talking**_, Hyorinmaru began telling about the other zanpakutous, which is a point where I always stop listening to him. He can ramble about them for hours!

"Oi! Earth to Toushiro! Man, you're the worst zoning out case I've ever seen!" Karin sighed waving her hand in front of my face. I jerked my head away from her hand.

"Hey, you're back with us. I swear, even Ichi-nii doesn't zone out that badly!" she laughed at me. I just shrugged.

"Sorry, I was thinking."

_Ichigo probably talks with Zangetsu when he 'zones out'. Well it's understandable to have problems on concentrating on a conversation in one's mind and on everything around one the same time. _

"What were you thinking about", Karin asked glancing at me curiously.

_Think, think fast! I can't tell her I was having a discussion with a dragon inside my mind!_

_**Why not? She knows about the Shinigami stuff,**_ Hyorinmaru decided to remark.

_First of all, I don't think Yuzu knows, and she's here now. And second, I really don't know how to tell her, even after I know she knows. It's pretty complicated, but the biggest reason is that I think her opinion about me might change with that._

Hyorinmaru raised his eyebrow inside my mind.

_Just forget it._

"Umm, about what I'm going to cook", I told quickly. Karin stared at me, as if she didn't believe me. After staring at me a while, she shrugged and continued talking with Yuzu.

_Do you think she bought it?_ I asked Hyorinmaru.

_**No way in hell, **_he answered shortly and I sighed.

_Didn't think she did._

"Here's the store. Do you live close by?" Karin asked as she turned to look at me. I checked where we were. I realized that I was able to see Orihime's place from where I stood. But I still couldn't tell the twins I lived there. They might know Orihime and start suspecting something.

"Yeah, pretty close in fact. I'm surprised I haven't seen this shop before", I told her.

"Well come on. Have you already decided what you will cook?" Karin asked me as we went to the shop. It was pretty small, but seemed to have all the basic cooking ingredients and such in its shelves. I even saw a couple obentos in the back shelf.

"I thought I'd buy an obento or couple of onigiris today, and start wondering about real cooking tomorrow."

"Do you live by yourself, or why do you have to cook for yourself?" Yuzu asked as she picked some vegetables to her basket. I thought for a moment about how to explain my living.

"Well, I live with a couple of roommates, but their cooking is something I really can't eat. So I decided to cook for myself."

"Where are your parents?" Karin asked. We were only following Yuzu around the shop; she was doing all the choices of what to buy.

"They're dead", I answered truthfully. Karin looked a bit surprised and concerned when she heard this.

"I'm so sorry", she said sounding apologetic.

"It's okay. I was so young that I don't even remember them", I told her truthfully.

"Still, it is hard living without a parent, so I can't imagine living without both", she said looking at her feet.

_Oh right, her mum is dead. It must have been hard for her. If I remember correctly, Rukia told that Ichigo was nine when his mum died. The twins are five years younger so they were only four. Living without mum for nine years must have been hard. Karin was so young. I hope she has some good memories of her._

"You've lost a parent?" I asked trying to sound as sympathetic as I could.

"Yeah. Our mum died when me and Yuzu were four", she said and I was able to hear the sorrow in her voice. Yuzu was already farther away from us, so she was no longer able to hear us.

"I'm sorry", I said. Karin lifted her head to look at me and smiled a little.

"We're okay now. And I still have dad, Yuzu and Ichi-nii, so it isn't that hard. I can't imagine losing both parents."

"As I said, I don't remember them at all. And I have other people, who are almost like a family to me. I have my granny, a girl who's like my sister; we even grew up together, and a friend who is kinda like a mother to me. Though I don't think I'll ever be able to tell her that", I told almost smiling.

"Oh, why is that?" Karin asked smiling at me.

_**I don't think you have ever opened this much to anyone. This girl is special, **_Hyorinmaru interrupted, at the worst time like his habit was.

_You shut up. Go sulk in a corner or something_, I told him. He was right, but once again, a thing I'll never admit to anyone.

_**I'm part of your soul, I know what you think**_, he chuckled.

_Go to the corner!_

"It would get into her head immediately", I chuckled and shuddered at the same time thinking about what would happen if I told Matsumoto what I thought about her. Karin smiled.

"I think I want to meet your family sometime." That took me completely off-guard.

"You would? Why?"

"I don't know. I know this'll sound funny, but somehow I already think of you as a close friend. I know it's stupid, since I've just met you, but you feel like a person, whose soul matches mine, if you understand me", she told.

"Soul matches?" I asked. _She's so confusing. _

"You know, the feeling when you meet someone and from the start it feels like you've known each other for years. I mean, it feels like we've been friends forever! I know, I sound really stupid", she said and looked away from me.

"I think you might have a good point there. I just told you something I've never told to anyone. I mean the 'like a mother' part", I told her.

"Really? That makes me happy", she said smiling so brightly that I wasn't able to hold back a smile of my own.

"You look good when you smile", Karin whispered. I turned to look at her, but she was smiling and staring in front of her.

"Karin, Toushiro, I'm about to go pay for this stuff, so let's go", Yuzu exclaimed waving her arm to us.

"Coming Yuzu!" Karin answered happily.

"C'mon Toushiro, let's go", Karin smiled at me and grabbed my hand dragging me after her.

"I bought some amanatto. Do you want some?" Yuzu asked us as we approached her. She had a small bag of beans covered with refined sugar.

"Thanks Yuzu", Karin said and grabbed a couple of them from the bag.

"How about you Toushiro?" Yuzu asked turning to me.

"Thanks", I said and couldn't help a smile. _Yuzu and Karin are so different. I don't mean that Karin isn't nice or anything like that, but Yuzu is the kindest person I've ever met!_

"So where do you exactly live Toushiro?" Karin asked me after we had finished the bag of amanattos.

"Oh, just that way of this road", I said pointing at the road by which Orihime's place was.

"We're going that way", Karin said pointing to the opposite direction.

"So, we'll see at the field at five then", she smiled.

"It's a promise", I answered with a smirk. The twins waved a goodbye and left towards the Kurosaki clinic that I had visited a couple of times.

I walked to Orihime's place and opened the door.

"Matsumoto, are you here?" I yelled as I took off my shoes at the door.

"Here Captain!" she answered from the living room.

"Where's Inoue?" I asked noticing no one else was home.

"She's at Ishida's. They seem to spend a lot of time together", she smirked from the couch.

"Don't even think about going to spy them", I told and sat down in another chair.

"Of course not! What are you thinking I am, Captain", she asked with a fake pout.

"So you have already been spying them", I sighed. "Did you at least do the paperwork?"

"Of course Captain!" he answered. I was really surprised.

"Matsumoto. What did you do while I was gone?" I asked glaring at her. She only did paperwork when she had done something she shouldn't have.

"Of course nothing Captain!" she said sounding surprised. I raised my eyebrow.

"Well, I might have spied on Ichigo and Rukia too. And they might have noticed me. And while I was running away I might have caused a car crash", she told grinning.

"No worries, nobody died!" she added quickly as she saw my expression.

"Matsumoto…", I growled.

"How was your first day at school? Made any friends?" Matsumoto asked quickly, an obvious attempt to distract me.

"I'll let you off the hook this once. But if either Kurosaki or Kuchiki or both of them come here, you're on your own", I sighed.

"Thank you Captain", she exclaimed happily and grabbed me in a choking hug.

"Matsumoto… can't… breathe", I tried to make my voice loud enough for her to hear it.

"Oh, sorry Captain!" she said letting go of me.

"What have I told about surprise hugs?" I asked her and breathed few long breathes to fill my lungs again. Matsumoto smirked.

"So how was the school?" she asked again.

"It was school. I really don't understand why I have to go to school. I could have been looking for people with high reiatsu or fighting hollows", I answered.

_**But you found a person with high reiatsu. And you even admitted it already, she's nice company, **_Hyorinmaru remarked.

_I know, but I don't need to tell that to everyone._

"So, did you get any new friends?" Matsumoto asked. I didn't say anything.

"Tell me you even talked with someone. I mean the girls must be crazy over you!" Matsumoto urged.

"Yes, I did talk to people. And yes girls were crazy. But there were two sensible girls, Karin and Yuzu. Though, I'm not sure if a sensible person jumps out of a window", I answered, knowing that she wouldn't be satisfied if I didn't tell at least something.

"Jump out of a window? Why would anyone do that?" Matsumoto asked curiously.

"Well, first time was because she was bored, and second time was because she needed to talk to her brother. Though she claimed it was because I threw her eraser out of the window."

"You threw someone's eraser out of the window? Why did you do that, Captain?" Matsumoto asked, really surprised. I guess she didn't think I was someone to do that.

_**Neither did I**_, a certain dragon commented.

"I didn't do it on purpose. She wasn't fast enough to catch it. But on the plus side, it hit Kurosaki's head", I told and smirked.

_That's right for him, since he never calls me by my title. _

_**Sometimes you're really childish.**_

"Kurosaki? What would Ichigo do at your school?" Matsumoto asked. She seemed to be frustrated because she hadn't seen everything herself. _Maybe she would have, if she wasn't spying people._

"He was there to talk with his sister, Karin. Karin and Yuzu are twins and Ichigo's little sisters", I explained.

"Ichigo has siblings? I have never even thought that he could have siblings", Matsumoto said surprised. _Uh oh, I need to get out of here._ Before I was able to get anywhere, Matsumoto was already bombing me with questions about Karin and Yuzu. I knew I'd had to answer them sometime, so I started to tell her what the twins were like after a deep sigh.

After a really long interrogation about the Kurosaki twins my stomach grumbled and I realized I didn't remember to buy anything.

"Are you hungry Captain? Orihime said that we could order pizza if we were hungry. Have you ever eaten one before? I ate one with Orihime last time I was here and it was really good! Wait just a sec, I'll look for the number of the place. Orihime left it here somewhere", Matsumoto started rambling.

"Here it is! I'll go order one!" she exclaimed happily after finding a piece of paper.

"Thanks Matsumoto", I said, though she probably didn't hear it anymore. Soon I was able to hear Matsumoto talking on the phone. I stretched on the couch, deciding to take a nap before I would meet Karin.

**Karin's POV**

After we said bye to Toushiro, Yuzu and I headed towards our clinic. I felt that Yuzu needed to ask something so I kept waiting quietly for her to speak.

"So Karin, what do you think about Toushiro?" she finally asked.

"He's a new kind of guy", I answered. Yuzu looked at me quizzically.

"I mean, he's funny to tease and he can even tease back, and he's smart and intelligent, but he can also be more sensitive than you would think by his appearance", I told sighing a bit.

"Oh, so that's what you were chatting about earlier in the store, right?" Yuzu asked. I nodded.

"He seems like a person I wouldn't mind being a part of the family", Yuzu smiled. I almost choked on air.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" I turned to stare at her, mouth hanging open. She shook her head and refused to say anything else.

The rest of our walk was pretty quiet. Mostly because we usually don't have to talk much with Yuzu. We both like silence, because it's something that we rarely have at home.

"Do you think nii-chan will eat at home today with Rukia, or are they staying at Rukia's place?" Yuzu asked when we reached our clinic.

Since Yuzu didn't know about the Shinigamis, she didn't know that when Ichigo and Rukia were 'staying at Rukia's place', they were actually visiting Soul Society or training at Urahara's.

"He usually tells early enough when he's gonna stay at Rukia's so I'd guess he and Rukia will eat here", I answered. _I doubt Ichigo will go far from our house, judging by what he said earlier._

"That's nice. It's always fun to have more people at dinner", Yuzu said, and went to kitchen to place the groceries where they belonged.

I heard a door open upstairs and steps move across the hall. Another door opened and closed.

"Ichi-nii is probably already home. That was his door that opened", I said. Ichigo's door was the only one that creaked. _Someone needs to oil that door!_

"I'll go ask him about one thing", I said and hurried upstairs. I knocked on the door and opened it without waiting for permission.

What I saw had my jaw hit the floor.

A young man I didn't know was standing in the middle of Ichigo's room wearing only a towel.

_Who the hell is that?! But he sure has one nice body. Wow, what kind of abs. Hot! Oh, I still don't know who he is and what the hell is he doing in Ichi-nii's room!_

The man was really hot. I was practically drooling. He had red hair that reached his shoulders and tattoos all over his body, even some in his face. He was slightly taller than Ichigo.

And he was staring at me not seeming a bit embarrassed or surprised.

"Who the heck are you?" I finally managed to ask. _I'm not sure whether I should ask him to put something on or not._

"You can see me? Then you must be Karin. I'm a friend of the Strawberry, Abarai Renji ", he said and stretched his hand towards me. I shook it blushing slightly.

"So, you're a Shinigami?" I asked, though it was pretty obvious.

"Yep. The vice-captain of the 6th Division", he said smiling proudly putting his both hands on his hips.

"And what are you doing in my brother's room wearing only a towel?" I asked. He looked down.

"Oh. I came to tell Ichigo that I'm in the real world and when I noticed he wasn't here I decided to take a shower", he grinned. _He comes to an empty house and just decides to take a shower? Why am I surrounded by odd people?_

"Man, I'm so hungry. Do you have anything to eat?" he said rubbing his stomach.

"Well, I could always ask Yuzu, but she can't see you unless you're in a gigai", I answered. Renji grinned. He walked to Ichigo's closet and opened it.

"No worries. I brought my gigai with me", he said revealing a body in the closet. _That's pretty creepy._

"So, where is the Strawberry?" Renji asked turning to look at me. At the same time I heard the window open and turned to look at it. Ichigo and Rukia had just entered the room and were staring at us.

"Renji. What on earth are you doing in my room, wearing only a towel?" Ichigo asked confused. I noticed that Rukia couldn't help but to look at Renji's body.

"I came to tell you I'm here, you weren't here, so I took a shower", Renji explained shortly.

"And why is my little sister in the same room?" Ichigo asked staring at Renji a bit angrily.

"I heard your door open and thought it was you, and came to talk to you about what we'll do with the Hollow thing", I told.

"WE?" Ichigo exclaimed, "You aren't going to do anything but keep out of problems and protect Yuzu."

"I have understood that! I meant that I wanted to tell you that I'm capable of taking care of myself, so when we're out, you have no business near us", I told, still glancing at Renji.

"Renji put some clothes on. Karin is in age when girls start to have major interest in boys, and you have one hell of a body, so…" Rukia said throwing a meaningful glance at me, and I smirked embarrassedly.

"Sure thing", he said and went back to his gigai in the closet. "Now, can I get something to eat?"

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**Please Review!**

**And a bit A.N. **

**I felt like Renji deserved a bit unusual introduction in my story x)**

**And also, I have noticed that all of the male characters in Bleach have really great bodies. I think that everyone can agreed with the fact that Renji has good abs!**


	5. Playing soccer

**Here is the fifth chapter. Once again, it's written in many different POVs.**

**Disclaimer: I own Bleach not. Tite Kubo owns Bleach.**

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**Karin's POV**

"You can get something by yourself", Ichigo shrugged.

"I don't think that's a very good idea", I and Rukia said the same time. We looked at each other and smirked.

"Yuzu hasn't seen Renji before, so someone needs to go with him and introduce him", Rukia continued. Ichigo looked at me meaningfully.

"Oh no! I'm not going. I am going to talk with you. Rukia can go!" I glared at him. We stared at each other until Rukia sighed.

"No worries Ichigo, I'll escort Renji and make sure he won't empty your fridge", she smirked. "Follow me Renji."

Rukia left the room Renji in tow. I couldn't help but wonder who on earth had gotten him his shirt. _'Red pineapple'? Seriously, he's just asking for a nickname._

"What more did you want to talk about? I thought you only wanted to tell you can take care of yourself", Ichigo asked cautiously.

"I just wanted to clarify what I mean by that. It means you're not allowed within a two kilometer radius from the soccer field." Ichigo opened his mouth to say something, probably complain, and I lifted my hand to stop him.

"No. You stay silent and listen. You're not allowed, and you can believe I'll notice if you come closer. You may suck at sensing reiatsu, but I'm good at it. And of course, neither Rukia nor Renji are allowed within that radius", I told. Ichigo sat silent thinking, but gave up with a sigh.

"Fine. But keep your cell phone with you. I need to know if you get into trouble. And if I see any Adjuchas I won't care about that, got it", he said sounding a bit angry, but I was able to hear the concern in his voice. I smiled a bit.

"No worries Ichi-nii, I doubt any Adjuchas will come. But I agree, if they do come, you're allowed to come help", I smiled. A playful smirk appeared in Ichigo's face.

"Help you? Heh, I'll be coming to save you, _little girl._" He laughed as I growled at him. He liked to tease me about how much shorter I was compared to him. Ichigo was annoyingly tall. He had grown about ten centimeters after the Winter war and was now almost as tall as dad (who is 186cm).

"You're just freakishly tall, I'm normal", I said causing Ichigo to chuckle. He put a hand on my head and ruffled my hair.

"Don't worry, I know a person who is way older than you and probably still shorter. And he is a guy", Ichigo smirked as Renji and Rukia came back, Renji carrying a huge sandwich.

"Ya referring to the Captain of 10th Division? He got a growth spurt last year, so he's probably already taller than Karin. Still pretty short though", Renji said as he sat down to the bed. Rukia jumped to sit in the now open closet.

"Renji, don't tell me you're going to live here? You know I only got room for Rukia in my closet-", Ichigo stopped in the middle of his sentence realizing he had said too much. He slowly turned to look at me. I was staring at him and Rukia mouth hanging open.

"Rukia lives in your closet? You told me she lives at Urahara's when she is in this world", I asked in a small voice. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed it. Ichigo smiled sheepishly and Rukia looked away blushing a sight bit.

"Well, we like to be close to each other…" Ichigo muttered embarrassedly. Renji smirked at me knowingly and I blushed. _Why does everyone want to give me these images?_

"Okay, I don't need to know more. But next time, just tell me straight away, okay?" I asked Ichigo. He smiled thankfully and nodded.

"Back to what I was asking. Where are you gonna stay Renji? I mean, we once had a guest room, but now the girls have their own rooms, so we can't even put you there", Ichigo told trying to turn my attention away from him.

"I'll stay at Orihime's. Matsumoto already told me it's not gonna be a problem", Renji smiled and took a bite of his sandwich.

"Wow, this is great. Your sister is a great cook! I could seriously marry her if that way I got this kind of food everyday!" Renji exclaimed. Both I and Rukia swallowed loudly. Ichigo glared at Renji darkly.

"You. Keep your eyes off my sister. Understood? Otherwise you're dead", he growled and I was able to feel his reiatsu grow dangerously.

"Strawberry relax! It was only a joke! I mean she's only- How old are you Karin?" he asked quickly.

"Fifteen", I told.

"She's only fifteen! And if I was a normal human I'd be a couple years older than you, Ichigo. So relax man, and learn to understand jokes", Renji defended himself. Ichigo glared at him one more time before relaxing.

"Sorry. I guess I overreacted a bit", he said with a sigh. Renji looked at me pitying. I knew what he was thinking. _How will I ever get a boyfriend if he is always like that! _I glanced at the clock and realized it was about time for me to go.

"I need to go. And beware, if I can feel any of you near the field, it won't be pretty. And also Orihime, Uryuu and Chad are people who need to stay away from the field", I said before I left the room.

"Yuzu, let's go", I called Yuzu as I went downstairs. At the end of the stairs I saw someone waiting._ Ugh, I don't want to explain anything to him now!_

"Karin, where are you and Yuzu going?" our father asked me from the floor after I dodged his hug.

"We'll meet a classmate and go play soccer. He's new in our class", Yuzu told as she came to check if dad was okay.

"_He?_" dad's eyes lit up. "Which one of you has a boyfriend?" he continued. Yuzu giggled and I shot a confused glance at her before turning back to our dad.

"Neither, I just made a bet with him", I answered truthfully. _Why does everyone in this family need to make assumptions?_

Of course, the old goat-face ignored what I said and ran to mother's poster.

"Our Karin has a boyfriend! Soon I'll be a grandpa!" he cried and I quickly dragged Yuzu out of the door knowing that Ichigo would never miss words 'boyfriend' and 'Karin' in the same sentence.

**Toushiro's POV**

After I had eaten the pizza Matsumoto had ordered (which was pretty good, I'll have to admit) I glanced at the clock and noticed I should already get going.

"I'll go out for a bit. Don't destroy anything and keep an eye for the Hollows", I told Matsumoto. She poked her head around the corner with a confused face.

"Huh? Captain? Where will you go?" she asked. I sighed.

"Just out, I'll be back after few hours. Do you need anything from the grocery store?" I asked deciding to be nice to my vice-captain. She raised her eyebrows before starting to smile widely.

"Now that you mentioned there are some things I need", she said and quickly made her way to me. "This is the list, I was about to go to get this myself, but since you offered."

I looked at the list. First few things were sensible, and then there just started to be everything crazy. _Why do we need a gnome? Or ten snow globes? _

**_Maybe she wants to get souveniers?_** Hyorinmaru suggested. I groaned.

_But why ten snow globes? And why would I need to by them? And who the heck is she buying a gnome?_

"Sure, I'll bring what I can find", I said, despite my thoughts. I waved my hand and headed for the soccer field.

**No one's POV (you know, normal way of telling a story)**

After Toushiro left Orihime's apartment it didn't take five minutes before there was knock on the door. Rangiku rose from the couch, confused, and made her way to the door.

"Ichigo? What are you doing here? Do you want to see Orihime? She's at Ishida's at the moment", Rangiku said as she saw Ichigo standing outside the door in his Shinigami outfit.

"No, I need you!" Ichigo said quickly. He quickly glanced over Rangiku's shoulder. "Is Toushiro here?"

"No, Captain left for a walk. Why do you need me?" Rangiku asked curiously. Ichigo rarely asked a favor from Rangiku. Last time he had wanted to know how to tell Rukia how he felt, so she was eager to find out what the orange-head needed this time.

"Karin is going out with a guy from her class and she told me not to get close. She would notice me, so I need someone to look after Karin. I know Yuzu is with her, but I want to be sure that guy won't try anything", Ichigo explained.

Rangiku's brains were working quickly. _Ichigo's sister Karin is going out with a guy from her class. Captain is in her class. Captain isn't here now. And he talked with Karin at school. HE'S GOING OUT WITH KARIN!_

Rangiku struggled to keep her face straight. Ichigo would start to get suspicious if she got too excited or surprised.

"I can do that", she smiled, without being able to cover the little smirk. Ichigo didn't notice it.

"Thank you so much Rangiku! She forbid me to ask Rukia, Renji, Chad, Ishida or Inoue to get close to the soccer field, so you and Toushiro were the only ones left", Ichigo said a bit relieved.

"What about Urahara or someone from his shop?" Rangiku asked surprised. Ichigo shook his head.

"Oh no, they would have revealed everything immediately. And I doubt Toushiro would have ever agreed. You're the only one I can count on!" he said. Rangiku smiled.

"Where is she going?"

**Toushiro's POV**

I arrived at the soccer field about fifteen minutes before the time we had agreed. I sat down to wait for the two girls. Before they arrived I felt a familiar reiatsu.

_That's Matsumoto. What's she doing here? If there was an emergency she would have called me._

**_Maybe she wanted to see where you had gone. She realized you have a date_**_**, **_Hyorinmaru smirked.

_It's not a date! We're just going to play soccer. Nothing more. And her sister will be there to watch us play._

**_I didn't say which girl I meant and you immediately thought about Karin. Can't help but wonder why_**_**, **_the dragon laughed. I ignored him and quickly jumped on the roof she was standing on.

"Matsumoto. What are you doing here?" I asked glaring at her. She was in her Shinigami outfit, which confused me even more.

"Oh, just doing a favor to a friend", she said and looked away still smiling. I was getting a bit annoyed.

"Why aren't you in your gigai? And just what kind of favor is this and to who?" I asked. She looked at me still smiling.

"Well, people are going to wonder if they see someone sitting on the roof watching children play soccer. And that's what I promised. To make sure you don't make any moves on Karin", she said her smirk nearly impossible wide.

That Kurosaki! He asked Matsumoto to watch after us! But why didn't he come himself?

**_Maybe that Karin didn't let him. She seems like a girl whose mind is not easily changed and who can be scary when she wants_**, Hyorinmaru offered.

_That could be. But still, being scared of his sister. Well, this just clarifies the fact that Kurosakis are one crazy family._

"Did Kurosaki ask you to do this?" I asked growling. Matsumoto made a surprised expression.

"That's a good guess Captain. How did you figure it out?" she asked. I glared at her and she shivered because of the cold breeze.

"You can go back to Orihime's", I said and turned to get back to the field. Matsumoto chuckled. She seemed to have a reason to stay.

_Figures._

"I'm afraid I can't. If I can't tell Ichigo exactly same things he hears from the twins he'll wonder why I wasn't here. And he knows only you can command me to leave", she smiled brightly.

**_She's clever, you have to admit that!_** Hyorinmaru said sounding amazed. I growled at him.

"Fine, you can stay. But make sure Karin doesn't see you, or feel your reiatsu", I told Matsumoto.

"Yes, Captain!" she answered as I jumped down from the roof. I walked to one of the goals and started to lean to post.

It didn't take three minutes for the two girls to arrive. They were chatting and laughing together. Yuzu noticed me first and whispered something to Karin's ear. She lifted her gaze to see me, before she smiled brightly and waved her hand.

"Hi Toushiro! You're already here. I thought we were early", she said smiling when she was close enough.

"You're early, I was here even earlier than you", I answered and walked closer to her. Yuzu had already sat down on the edge of the field.

"Did you have to wait for long?" Karin asked me as she took her backpack off. I shook my head.

"Just got here myself. So, what are the rules", I asked starting to smirk. Karin lifted her eyes from the backpack to look at me. She smirked too.

"First one to make five goals win. And let's play to one goal, you'll have to move the ball around this-"she put down a little plastic cone "-before you can try to make a goal. When I get the ball from you I'll have to move the ball around it again. After a goal the one, who didn't make the goal, starts", she explained.

"And how about the beginning? Which one will start?" I asked, completely ready to let her start. After all, as a Captain of Gotei 13 I knew how to be gentleman.

"It's easy", she smirked and threw the ball high in the air. "Let's start!" she yelled before the ball hit the ground.

I moved closer to get the ball and bounced it in the air again using my head. I tried to let it drop to my feet, but suddenly I saw Karin's face just inches away from mine. I smelled her sweet breath and felt the warmth radiating from her body.

She smirked at me and stole the ball easily. _Damn, I let her confuse me too easily. I need to be sharper!_

I ran after her and tried to stop her, but didn't want to tackle her. She is a girl after all.

"C'mon Toushiro, you'll never get the ball from me like that!" she laughed and bounced the ball over my foot. She kicked the ball at the point where it touched the ground, causing it to go high up. I didn't have time to do anything before the ball went to the goal.

"It's 1-0! C'mon Toushiro, I know you can do better!" Karin encouraged me as I went to get the ball.

"Okay, maybe it's time for me to take this seriously", I smirked and started to run with the ball towards the cone.

"That's the sprit!" Karin laughed and ran after me.

After I goaled my first goal, we both started to get serious. We used every single trick we knew, moving the ball around so much that the other one got dizzy, we spurted and made quick turns and tackled each other. And laughed the whole time.

I just couldn't help but smile, when Karin just rolled her eyes around trying to keep up with the ball and got so dizzy we had to stop for a minute, or when Karin scored and looked so happy, or when she encouraged me to serious.

I had never laughed this much during one day in my life. This was fun.

After about an hour of playing the score was 4-4. We had tried to make the last goal for fifteen minutes. Both of us were panting and trying to think of a way to make the goal.

Karin had the ball in her feet. She slowly moved around the cone and ran towards me. Then she made a quick turn, trying to run past me. I tried to slide and hit the ball, but she bounced the ball over me jumping after it herself.

I got up and ran after her. She was getting ready to kick when she stumbled on an open shoelace. She almost fell, and there was an opening for me to take the ball. I turned around to run to the cone.

Suddenly she was running next to me, looking me deep in the eyes. This time I stumbled on an open shoelace.**_ Your shoelaces aren't open~_**, Hyorinmaru sang.

I accidentally kicked the ball high in the air. Karin ran towards the ball and as the ball was at the convenient height she kicked it over her head making a backwards flip. The ball flew straight into the goal.

"I did it!" she cheered and sat down on the grass. I walked to her.

"You won. That was really nice goal by the way", I told her smirking. She looked at me still smiling.

"Thanks. I usually miss the ball when I try to do that", she said. I offered her my hand. She took it and I helped her to her feet.

"Now you'll have to do three things I say!" she laughed. I sighed, but smiled.

"You have any ideas what you'll make me do?" I asked. She looked at me, thinking. Then she shook her head.

"No, not yet. But don't worry, I'm sure they'll be great once I figure out what to make you do", she said as Yuzu walked to us.

"Congratulations Karin! That was great goal!" Yuzu said. She was holding out ball, which she had picked from the goal.

"But Toushiro was probably the toughest opponent I've ever had. How long did we play?" Karin asked Yuzu. She checked her watch.

"A little over hour. But you were running almost all of the time. You must be exhausted", she said. Karin chuckled.

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired. Are you, Toushiro?" she asked, and I noticed she still hadn't let go of my hand. I smiled a bit.

"I'm pretty beat, and I even consider myself to be in good shape", I told.

"You're in good shape! No one has ever made me run around like that. And anyone could see it too. I mean, you got pretty much muscle", Karin said and checked me from head to toe.

"It's getting pretty dark. We'd better go home", Yuzu said. _Should I say I can walk them? I mean, Ichigo could notice us and that wouldn't be good. But if I would just walk them half way and say that I'll have to hurry?_

**_Just say you'll walk with them already before they leave!_**

"I can walk you guys home", I said. Yuzu glanced at me smiling knowingly reminding me somehow of Hyorinmaru.

**_That little girl reminds you of me? I'm not sure if I should be hurt._**

_You just act the same way like you know something I don't. And it's pretty annoying._

"We –", Karin started, but Yuzu stomped on her foot. "Thanks Toushiro, that's so nice of you."

"Yuzu, what was that about? I was just gonna say that live pretty far, so he'd know!" Karin said looking at Yuzu.

"It's okay, I can be out pretty late", I assured the girls. They both smiled, Yuzu her usual warm smile and Karin genuinely happily surprised smile.

We started to walk towards the Kurosaki clinic, Yuzu walking a couple steps ahead of me and Karin.

"Oh, I promised to my friend I'd go to buy her some stuff before going home! Is there a shop anywhere near?" I asked after we had walked about a half on an hour.

"Just around the corner. I can come with you", Karin said. I glanced worriedly at Yuzu. She smiled sweetly.

"I need to hurry and start cooking dinner. And our house can be already seen from here, there's nothing that can happen", she said. I nodded at her and followed after Karin.

"Do you live together with this friend?" Karin asked as we entered the store. She wasn't looking at me and her voice sounded a bit strangled. I quickly checked the reiatsu around us, to notice Matsumoto had already left.

"Yup. She's the friend who is like mother to me I told you earlier. Though sometimes it feels like I'm the one taking care if her when she watches TV", I told. Karin looked at me for a while before smiling.

"How much older is she than you?" she asked. I thought for a second realizing I didn't know how old Matsumoto was. But she was much older that was sure.

"I'm not sure. There is a few decades between our ages", I told her.**_ Just a few? _**Hyorinmaru asked. _Whatever._

"Oh, so she is like your mother according to her age too?" she confirmed smiling. I nodded.

"What did you need to buy?" she asked and I gave her the list. She read it and her expression changed from neutral to surprised and from there to confused.

"A gnome?" she asked looking at me. I laughed.

"I have no idea what she was thinking", I told and she chuckled too. We walked around the store and collected everything we could find that was on the list. Just as I had paid for the things I felt a Hollow reiatsu.

_Shit. They have a really crappy timing._

Next to me Karin inhaled sharply. "Yuzu", she whispered worried and ran out of the store.

"Karin, wait! Don't just rush to there!" I yelled running after her.

"I have to go! Yuzu is in danger!" she yelled back.

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**And this is where I'll stop. Please review!**

**Oh and the rules of the soccer game they play might be a bit confusing, but it's so much easier to explain in Finnish. But I've played a game like that. It's a good way to play when you only have two players.**

**And Karin's winning kick is kinda like the kick Toushiro does when Karin and her friends try to ask him to play in the Bleach filler episode. The one which makes the ball hit the afro-boy's face.**


	6. Revelations

**This chapter is in various POVs, I hope you can keep up.**

**I wrote this pretty quickly and didn't have time to check it for any mistakes, so please try not to mind them.**

**Disclaimer: I still do not own Bleach.**

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**Karin's POV**

I was in the store with Toushiro as I felt the all too familiar reiatsu of a Hollow. I froze in shock. Quickly I checked Ichigo's and his friends' reiatsu. Ichigo was near Orihime's place, Renji and Rukia somewhere even farther and I wasn't able to locate Ishida, Chad or Orihime.

No one was near our clinic. Which meant that Yuzu was alone.

"Yuzu", I whispered panic starting to fill me. I ignored everything and started to run to our clinic as fast as I was able. Yuzu wasn't even able to see Hollows so she couldn't see if one of them attacked.

"Karin, wait! Don't just rush to there!" I heard Toushiro yell after me. _I could tell him. But I have no time!_

"I have to go! Yuzu is in danger!" I yelled at him over my shoulder and ran even faster. I barely heard him drop the bag he was carrying before he bolted after me. And damn he was quick.

Still, I was better in short sprints. And our house wasn't that far. When I turned around the last corner and was able to see our clinic I sighed a bit in relief. The Hollow was still outside and I was able to feel Yuzu's small reiatsu from inside the building.

The Hollow was a Huge Hollow. _Damn. A normal Hollow would have been easier to beat. Oh, whatever!_

I ran towards the Hollow and jumped in the air with my right leg, swinging upwards after the bounce. The kick hit the Hollow between legs. If I had kicked a normal human (a man) like that he would probably have gone to coma immediately.

I was only able to make the Hollow fall. I jumped again, this time hitting the Hollow straight into the mask. The mask didn't broke, but a big crack appeared on it. The Hollow howled angrily or in pain. I couldn't tell which one.

I prepared to attack the Hollow again as I noticed a big shadow looming over me. _Shit! There's another Hollow!_ I realized and dodged the fist that was just about to crush me.

I wasn't able to dodge the Hollow's tail. It hit me straight into my side, sending me flying against a wall. The tail broke at least one of my ribs and the collision with the wall forced the air out of my lungs and made my head hit the wall. For a moment I saw stars.

_At least a slight concussion, _I diagnosed myself immediately. _But that doesn't matter if I don't get out of that Hollow's way now!_ I decided when the newer Hollow started to walk closer to me.

Unlike the first Hollow, which had a humanoid form, many times bigger though, this one moved on four feet, and looked like a huge lizard. Both of them had glowing yellow eyes.

The Hollow spread its wings.

_Okay, make it like a dragon._

I tried to get up and move away from the wall as the first Hollow threw something at me. It landed on my legs, and I realized it was a part of a car. It locked my legs on the place. _This isn't good._

I braced myself for the hit from the dragon like Hollow's tail as I felt a cold breeze against my cheek.

"Reign over the Frozen Heavens, Hyorinmaru", I heard a familiar angry voice yell. A huge ice dragon hit the side of the dragon like Hollow freezing it all over. The big Hollow with cracked mask howled angrily and bolted towards me.

Suddenly the Hollow stopped. A Shinigami with a white haori was standing in front of me. I knew right away that he was a Captain. In the back of the haori was a kanji meaning ten. _Ichigo did say that the captain and vice-captain of 10__th__ Division were here, _I remembered as my sight was starting to get blurry. One thing I managed to see before I blacked out was that the Shinigami had pure white hair.

* * *

**Toushiro's POV**

I ran after Karin when she bolted towards her house, but a Huge Hollow stopped me after the first corner.

"Get out of my way", I growled at the Hollow, pulling out my King Soul Candy container and popping the candy into my mouth. I turned to look at my gigai.

"Go hide somewhere near Kurosaki clinic, I'll find you after I beat up this guy." As my gigai disappeared from sight I jumped and sliced the Hollow from the middle.

It vanished and I shunpoed towards the Kurosaki clinic. I heard the two Hollows howl and a loud crashing sound. _That sounds like someone is destroying a car!_

**_It's highly possible, since they're Hollows. They don't care whether they destroy stuff or not._**

_Karin, please be okay!_

The moment when I was finally able to see Karin, I saw her hit the wall. Pretty hard. That made me saw red.

_Those Hollows are as good as dead, _I growled in my mind. For once Hyorinmaru decided it was better not to say anything.

"Reign over the Frozen Heavens, Hyorinmaru!" I roared and sent the ice-dragon towards the Hollow closer to Karin. It froze in a second.

The other Hollow realized it wasn't a match for me, so it decided to kill Karin. He bolted towards Karin but its speed was nothing compared to my shunpo. I quickly moved between Karin and the Hollow.

With a swift slash I cut the Hollow in two parts. It's vanished with one last howl. I turned to look at Karin and somehow explain myself. I noticed she was unconscious, blood tripping from a wound in the back of her head.

_Oh no! That isn't a good thing!_ I almost panicked. _What do I do?_

**_First relax and shut up! You're a genius! So, think of someone who can take care of her wound without asking too much questions._**

_Urahara! I have to take her to his shop,_ I decided. Carefully, I lifted Karin to my arms and shunpoed across the town. _Please be okay!_

I shunpoed as fast as I was able and after a minute a arrived at Urahara's shop. Without knocking I barged in.

"Urahara! Where the hell are you? Come to here immediately!" I yelled once inside. Ururu poked her head from the door at the back.

"I'm sorry, but his busy", she said lowering her head. Normally I would have acted nicer with her, but this time I had a bleeding girl in my arms.

"Tell him to hurry! Karin needs help!" I exclaimed angrily. Jinta came from behind Ururu, to check out the noise probably.

"Oi! Stop your screaming! He's busy with Yoruichi!" Jinta said and waved me to move away. I was getting really angry. _Are those two blind?_

"I DON'T CARE!" I roared, causing both Ururu and Jinta to jump a little. Finally, Ururu noticed the unconscious girl in my arms.

"What has happened to Karin?" she asked quietly, but evident worry in her voice. _It was about time to notice her!_

"Huge Hollows attacked. I don't know how badly she's hurt, but she's bleeding", I told, trying to regain my composure. I usually didn't get that angry so easily.

"What's all the commotion? Oh, good day Captain Hitsugaya. What brings you- oh, what have you done to Karin?" Urahara asked as he appeared behind Jinta and Ururu.

"Huge Hollows. Can you tell what's wrong with her?" I asked. Urahara nodded solemnly and escorted me to the backroom of his shop.

"Put her down here. Tessai! Come here, we need to examine Karin!" Urahara yelled as I placed Karin on the mattress on the floor. Urahara turned to look at me.

"Does Ichigo know about this?" he asked. I shook my head. I hadn't even thought what I would tell the overprotective Kurosaki.

"How come you're the one who brought her here? I would assume Ichigo is always closer to her", the shop keeper continued as Tessai arrived. Urahara gently felt the back of her head, as Tessai started to mutter something casting a Kido spell.

"I was playing soccer with her. We were on the way back, when we felt Hollows reiatsu, and she got scared that they might hurt Yuzu which made her run. I ran after her, but another Hollow stalled me enough long so that when I reached her, she was already hurt", I explained as I watched the two work.

"That's understandable, I mean she running off. She worries about her sister all the time. It would certainly be easier if she could see Hollows too", he said, starting to bandage Karin's head.

"Certainly. But is Karin okay?" I asked. I never was good with medicinal stuff, so I really needed the opinion of someone who knew their stuff.

"She has a concussion, small wound in her skull and a broken rib, which luckily caused no internal damage, so she should be perfectly fine. Orihime's help won't be required at all", Urahara said lifting Karin's shirt enough to bandage her side.

"That's good. Is she going to wake up soon?" I asked with a sigh of relief. Urahara and Tessai both stood up.

"She should wake up in a couple of minutes. She hadn't lost so much blood, so you can take her home as soon as she wakes. But you have to tell Ichigo what happened and make up something you can tell Yuzu", Urahara answered.

"Would you like some tea?" Ururu asked shyly as she entered the room too. I nodded and she put a cup down next to me.

"I'll figure something", I said and took a sip from the tea. It was green tea, with some honey in it.

"Don't tell Ichigo anything about the Hollow", I heard Karin's weak voice next to me. I turned around and sat down next to her.

"Karin! You're awake!" I said. She chuckled.

"Yes, I am. And you're a Shinigami", she said looking at my outfit. I looked down and realized I wasn't in my gigai. _I wonder where that soul with my gigai is now. I did tell him to wait._ _Well, I guess I'll find him sooner or later._

"And a captain, judging by your haori. Which is pretty bloody by the way. Did you get hurt?" she asked trying to sit up.

"Lay down", I ordered putting a hand gently on her shoulder. She sighed and fell back to the mattress.

"I'm not hurt. The blood is from you, you idiot. Didn't I say not to rush? You wouldn't have gotten hurt in the first place if you were with me", I said here, getting a bit angry. Not with her though. I was angry at myself, for letting her get hurt. What kind of Captain cannot follow after a human girl?

"I didn't want you to get hurt. I didn't know you are a Shinigami Captain, remember?" she said smirking a bit.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I realized you knew about Shinigamis when I saw you talk with your brother outside the school, but I just wasn't able to come up with a good way to tell I'm a Shinigami too, so I decided not to tell", I told her, trying to use the puppy dog eyes Momo used with me so often.

"Hey, no worries. I get it's not easy thing to say. Plus, Yuzu was with us almost all the time. And you were planning on telling at some point, right?" she asked, not affected by my face at all.

"Maybe. But what are we going to say to your brother and Yuzu? I mean, you have a wound in your head and a broken rib!" I sighed angrily.

"I fell down some stairs. There were stairs pretty close the shop. Then you took me to a first-aid centre, because I fell unconscious and you didn't know my family had a clinic", she suggested. I thought about it for a moment. It was a perfectly usable excuse except for one thing.

"Your brother will recognize me as soon as he sees me", I told Karin. She closed her eyes for few seconds and smiled.

"If we go now we can be home before he is. He's reiatsu is still at Orihime's place. It's odd though. Orihime isn't at home herself", she said. My eyebrows shot up.

**_That girl is pretty good in sensing reiatsu! _**Hyorinmaru said surprised. I had to admit that I for once again agreed with him. But I also knew something she didn't.

"He's probably talking with Matsumoto, my vice-captain. He had her watch after us when we were playing. But no worries, she won't tell anything unnecessary. She's enjoying this way too much to ruin it by telling him", I told with a sigh. I was able to picture Matsumoto planning her usually scary plans.

"So he found a loop-hole! I thought I had realized to forbid him from asking help from anyone, but I didn't remember he mentioned you two to be here too. And what is she enjoying so much?" she asked after fuming at Ichigo's way to have someone babysit her.

"She likes when 'I show social skills' as she says", I told. Sometimes she was really just like a mother.

"So that icy face is really your usual expression. Jeez, you really need to learn how to smile", she said shaking her head.

"We should go to your clinic now", I said and she nodded standing up. She winced a bit and gently rubbed her side.

"Walking is going to hurt a bit", she sighed, sounding a bit defeated.

"Oh, you're not going to walk. If you don't know how to use shunpo, which I honestly doubt, I'll carry you", I said. She turned to look at me, angry and embarrassed at the same time.

"But! I- I- I can walk", she tried to argue, but hung her head admitting her defeat. Urahara, who had disappeared with Tessai and Ururu at some point, came back.

"So you're ready to go? Here, take these pills. They'll help your injuries heal faster", he said throwing a little container to her.

"Thanks Urahara. See you again!" she smiled as she put the pills into her pocket. She turned to me and I gently lifted her to my arms again, shunpoing out of the shop.

"Wow, this is really cool! You can move so fast!" she said amazed, as I leaped over the highest buildings in the town.

"What, hasn't Ichigo ever carried you while shunpoing?" I asked surprised. She seemed like a person who would really like to try it. She shook her head.

"I don't really want to ask him. It would be a bit embarrassing. Plus, he never has offered to take me for a round", she said smiling and enjoying the breeze in her face.

Soon we arrived at Karin's home street. I looked around for a bit, and noticed the soul with my gigai hiding in the rose bush. He had my shopping bag with him.

"I'm back. Hopefully no one saw you", I said to it as I put Karin down. The gigai shook his head. I sighed in relief. I really didn't want to have any rumors about me hiding in a bush outside Kurosaki clinic.

I went back to the gigai, and dusted my clothes.

"So, now to explain Yuzu what happened. And if you can, avoid saying my name in front of your brother. He could get wrong ideas, at least according to what he said you outside the class, and I really don't want him to come after me", I sighed and knocked the door.

Yuzu opened it with a worried expression.

"Karin! Where have you been? You were gone so long! Why do you have a bandage around your head?" she was nearly crying at Karin. Karin hugged her gently and told our cover story to her.

* * *

After telling Karin to watch her step in the future she turned to me.

"Thank you for taking care of Karin. I know she probably didn't thank you herself", she said smiling. I smiled back.

"It's okay. I figured that Karin would be a person who would forget that", I smirked. Karin stuck her tongue at me. I just waved and said by to the twins. Still, I didn't miss Karin gesturing towards upstairs, probably meaning we had something more to talk about. I nodded but decided to leave my gigai at Orihime's first.

I ran to the apartment, since I couldn't use shunpo while in gigai. But still it didn't take long, because I happen to be a pretty fast runner, and I can run for pretty long distances quickly.

* * *

As I arrived at Orihime's place I heard voices from the living-room. _That's probably Matsumoto still reporting to Ichigo._

"Captain? You're back! Did you bring everything I asked?" Matsumoto called. I quickly got out of my gigai and left it in my room.

"I brought what I could find. The shop only had seven snow globes, so you'll have to buy the last three by yourself", I said and walked to the living-room.

"You found the gnome! That's great, it was so hard!" Matsumoto exclaimed happily and turned to look at me. I handed the bag to her and she dug the gnome out.

"It's perfect! Thank you Captain!" she said examining the gnome. Ichigo and Renji, who both were in the room with Matsumoto, started at Matsumoto before looking at me questioning. I shrugged.

"Renji, what are you doing here?" I realized to ask. He smirked.

"I'm staying here. Matsumoto already said its okay, and she even consulted Inoue. And if you meant the real world, I was sent here to help you two", he explained. I sighed. _I was hoping it would be nice and silent, but since he's here, I'm not going to get peace._

"Toushiro-", Ichigo started to say something.

"It's Captain Hitsugaya to you", I snapped automatically.

"Whatever you say Toushiro. But I was going to ask why is there blood on your haori?" he continued. I glanced down and realized that I still had the haori with Karin's blood on it.

_Crap. I should have changed it. This is gonna be a tough one to explain._

_**Tell them you got hurt, **_Hyorinmaru offered. It was a good idea, but I still have some sense of pride.

_Matsumoto will never believe I got hurt fighting against regular Hollows. _

"I cut my finger on a rose thorn when I was picking up the shopping bag after beating a Hollow. I must have spilled it on my haori", I lied smoothly.

"Oh, I thought for a second a Hollow had injured you, but of course the great Captain Hitsugaya is above that", Renji chuckled. I glared at him. Even if Kurosaki didn't respect my authority as a captain, Renji still should remember who the one giving orders here in the living world is. He stopped laughing when he noticed my glare.

"I'll go to kill a few Hollows if I find them", I said and waved the trio as I left the apartment.

* * *

At the Kurosaki clinic I noticed Karin leaning out of the window. She noticed me and waved her hand. I climbed to her room through the window.

"Where were you?" she asked sitting down on the bed. I glanced around her room. The room was similar to Ichigo's, but the wall had photos of famous soccer players and there was a basket full of different size soccer balls in the corner.

"I went to drop my gigai to Inoue's place. I thought it would be easier for me to climb in from the window and move without being noticed", I explained looking back at her. She had changed her clothes. She was now wearing a loose light-blue t-shirt, with the text 'Fighter' on it, and baggy shorts which reached her knees.

"Oh, of course. Hey, your haori is still bloody! Why didn't you change it?" she asked grapping my haori pulling me closer. I tripped and almost fell on top of her, but still managed to stop my falling with my hands.

I was now leaning over her as she lay on the bed, hands on either side of her head. She was still holding my haori, blushing slightly.

"Sorry", I muttered and stood up looking away from her face. She rose back to sitting position.

"It's my fault. I pulled your haori", she said in a small voice and I glanced her from the corner of my eye. She was blushing madly.

"I still should have a better balance", I said and she smiled a little. She stood up and put her hands on my shoulders.

"Take that haori off. I'll wash it for you. You should have other haoris, right?" she said pulling the haori down from my shoulders.

"You really don't need to! I can do it myself", I argued with her, though I already guessed she was not going to change her mind. And I was right.

"No-no! It's my fault it's dirty, so I'll take care of it. And don't worry about Ichigo, he never does the laundry, so he won't find it" she said and with a defeated sigh and a slight smile a took the haori of and handed it to her.

"You wanted to talk about something?" I asked as she put the haori down next to her bed. She smiled and sat on the bed.

"Well, I had a lot of things I wanted to talk with you", she said and smiled at me. I smiled back and sat on the bed next to her.

"You can ask anything you want", I said. She was silent for a second.

"Tell me about you. I mean, you have had much longer life than me so you probably have many stories. How old are you exactly?" she asked leaning on the wall.

"To tell you about me I need to know first how much you know about Soul Society and Shinigamis. And for the age-thing, let's just say that I'm physically fifteen", I told. I didn't want to scare her by telling her my real age.

"Well I guess that's a good answer. And I know pretty much about Shinigamis and all, but I'd like to know more and I feel that Ichi-nii isn't telling me everything", she answered.

I told her about my past in Rukongai and how I had started to hear Hyorinmaru. Then I told her about my path to becoming a Shinigami and a Captain. Karin was especially interested in Hyorinmaru. She told me that she found it interesting that a part of Shinigami's soul developed a different personality. She told Ichigo had explained that Zangetsu was an old man, so she was interested in what Hyorinmaru looked like.

"Wow, dragon sounds way cooler than some random old dude", she said sounding awed. Hyorinmaru hummed in my head sounding very pleased.

"I wish I had a zanpakutou! It would be so nice to talk to someone in my head", she told me eyes sparkling.

**_That is one smart girl. You should appreciate my guidance much more, _**Hyorinmaru noted. _If it was only guidance I wouldn't be complaining. You just like to remark things I'd rather not notice._

"It's not that fun always. And it causes some serious zoning out", I told her and she laughed.

"So that's what happened before! And that's why Ichi-nii has started to zone out so much recently! Of course, this explains everything", she exclaimed still laughing.

"Karin! Why are you laughing?" we heard Ichigo's voice outside Karin's door as he knocked. Karin looked at me panicked.

"Into the closet! Now!" she hissed and pushed me into her closet. From the gap between the doors I saw her kick my haori under her bed as Ichigo opened the door.

"Why shouldn't I be laughing?" Karin asked Ichigo. His squinted his eyes and glanced across the room.

"You don't happen to have a boy hidden in your closet?" he asked and I gulped. _How does he know where I am?! __** This is the only place where anyone can hide in Karin's room? **__You are not helping!_

"I'm not you, mister I-hide-my-girlfriend-in-my-closet", Karin said mockingly and Ichigo scratched the back of his neck.

"Sorry about that. But I came to check on you. Yuzu said that you fell down some stairs. Is it true or was it a Hollow?" he asked suspiciously.

"I fell down the stairs. Didn't Yuzu tell that my friend took me to the first-aid centre? Would you think he'd do it if I was attacked by a Hollow?" Karin reasoned with Ichigo. _She sounds really convincing!_

"Okay, I believe you. Just please, don't go fighting any Hollows until you've recovered", he said and turned to leave. As he closed the door behind him I jumped out of the closet.

"That was close", Karin sighed and smiled. I nodded. "He believed you pretty easily though", I noted.

"He always does. He doesn't believe I could be hiding anything. But I have to admit my heart skipped a beat when he asked if I had any guys hidden in my closet", Karin smirked.

"Me too. Thank God he didn't open the door", I said.

"Oh Karin I forgot to mention that dinner is in five minutes", Ichigo said opening the door again. I reacted in a second and jumped out off the window landing with a quiet thud into a rose bush.

"Okay, I'll come to help you to set the table", Karin answered in a stressed voice.

"Did something just fell out of the window?" I heard Ichigo ask. There were steps across the room and I quickly hid myself better in the bush and held my breath.

"Must have imagined it", Ichigo sighed and closed the window. I drew a long breath and shunpoed back to Orihime's place, where Matsumoto was already waiting for me, prepared to make me tell everything that had happened during the day.

* * *

**Karin's POV**

After Toushiro jumped out off the window my heart was literally beating in my throat. After Ichigo decided he had imagined what he had seen I was able to breathe again.

The dinner was normal to our family. Me and Yuzu eating in peace, while Ichi-nii and dad had their usual 'bonding'.

"By the way Karin, I got a call from your teacher. I hear you jumped out off the class room window _twice"_ dad said as he settled down to eat, big bump in his head. Yuzu smiled at me and Ichigo pretended to be surprised.

"Yeah, I figured it was faster than using the door", I said between my bites. Yuzu chuckled a bit and Ichigo shook his head, smiling a bit.

"That's my girl! Brave and intelligent" dad said proudly. _Sometimes it's not that bad to have a crazy family._

After dinner I told Yuzu I could take care of the laundry today. She seemed to be really glad I was finally starting to learn how to do housework. _Maybe I should do the laundry more often. It is an easy task-_

I picked Toushiro's haori from under my bed and collected some other dirty white clothes I had left in my room before going to the bathroom (where the washing machine was located) to put the clothes into the washing machine. _It's a good thing it's Saturday tomorrow. I don't have to go to school! But how will I be able to give Toushiro his haori? Well, maybe I'll just give it tohim Monday, unless he shows up before that._

_

* * *

  
_

**Next morning, No one's POV**

The unthinkable happened on that Saturday morning. Ichigo was the first one to wake up.

"Ugh, what's the clock", he mumbled to himself as he got out of his bed. It was pretty hard, since Rukia was sleeping in the same bed and Ichigo didn't want to wake her.

"I could take a shower", he decided and went to the bathroom. The first thing he noticed was that Karin had forgotten to take the laundry out of the washing machine.

"I'd better put these to dry, or they'll start to smell", he talked to himself. (**A.N. Trust me, I know. I have to do the laundry in our house and have forgotten the wet clothes in the machine for countless times) **

_Am I talking to myself too much, _he wondered. _**Ichigo, that is a good way to clear one's thoughts, **_Zangetsu commented.

After a couple of white t-shirts he pulled a partly unfamiliar but still way too familiar cloth out of the machine.

"A captain's haori? Why is it in our washing machine?" Ichigo wondered out loud. He turned the haori over to see whose it was. _10__th__ Division. So this is Toushiro's. I'm confused._

_**Maybe your sister offered to wash that since captain Hitsugaya had spilled blood on it. **__But Toushiro doesn't know Karin. Or does he? If he has ever even touched her, I'll swear I'll-, _Ichigo's thoughts were interrupted as Karin slammed the door open.

Few minutes earlier, Karin had woken up and remembered the laundry in the machine, but as she opened the bathroom door and saw Ichigo holding Toushiro's haori, she knew she was in trouble.

"Karin? You're awake. I thought I could help you since you forgot to take the laundry out of the machine. You wouldn't happen to know why there is Toushiro's haori among our laundry", Ichigo said sounding a bit pissed, holding the haori in front of him, so that the kanji on the back was towards Karin.

"Umm…", Karin didn't know what to say. Ichigo was glaring at the haori _very _angrily. Then he looked back at Karin.

"You know Toushiro? And don't try to lie to me", Ichigo growled and Karin knew she had no other opinion but to tell.

"I played soccer with him yesterday", she sighed. Ichigo growled again.

"It was him! Wait a sec! Then it means the blood on the haori was yours?" he asked, a bit shocked dropping the haori. Karin nodded and Ichigo's glare darkened.

"How dare he hurt my sister? I swear I'll fucking kill him!" Ichigo yelled, waking everyone in the house, and brought his hand to his Substitute Shinigami badge to turn to Shinigami.

"Hey, wait, you got it all wrong!" Karin tried to say, but Ichigo's brother instinct had taken over and he didn't hear a thing. He just shunpoed out of the house.

"Crap! I need to help Toushiro!" Karin panicked instinctively picking the haori from the floor. _But how? I don't know how to use shunpo! And it's long way to Orihime's apartment. _

"Karin, what has happened? Where is Ichigo? And why do you have Captain Hitsugaya's haori?" Rukia asked entering the bathroom. Karin swirled around to face her.

"Rukia! You can use shunpo! Take me to Orihime's place, please, or Ichigo will kill Toushiro!" Karin pleaded. Rukia seemed to be slightly confused, but left her gigai and quickly together with Karin carried the empty bodies into Ichigo's room.

"You'll explain to me while we run", Rukia said and Karin nodded climbing to her back. "Hold on!" she said and shunpoed after Ichigo.

* * *

**Yay, longest chappie by far! But I was only able to update this soon since I'm not allowed to go to my krav maga practice, 'cause of some stupid stitches in my back.**

**But please review, and if you have any ideas about what could Karin make Toushiro do, please tell me :)**

**I have some ideas of my own, but I'd like to have more opinions!  
**


	7. Calming a Strawberry

**And the seventh chapter is here! Sorry for the wait.**

**Disclaimer: Me own not, you sue not!**

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* * *

  
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**Toushiro's POV**

It was a Saturday and I had no paperwork to do, so I had decided to sleep late. Unfortunately, a certain Substitute Shinigami was not going to let me sleep.

"Captain! I think you should get up", Matsumoto yelled from the door, opening it. I sat up and checked my watch. It was 09.34.

"Why should I?" I asked and leaned back to the bed. Matsumoto came in and pulled my blanket away.

"Hey, don't take that! I want to sleep!" I exclaimed angrily and reached for the blanket. She took a few steps away from me and I fell from the bed.

"I really think you should get up before he comes", she said before exiting the room with my blanket. I groaned and started to search for some clothes. _Who he? _I wondered.

After I had put on a light blue t-shirt and jeans and gone to get some breakfast I found out. As I sipped my tea, something big came through the window. Or rather someone. A very angry someone.

"Hitsugaya Toushiro", Ichigo growled in his Shinigami outfit, pointing Zangetsu at me. "Prepare to die! Bankai!" he yelled and charged towards me. I quickly jumped out of the way and he only destroyed the kitchen table. And my breakfast.

"Kurosaki! What is wrong with you?!" I yelled and popped a soul candy to my mouth. The soul in my gigai realized the situation immediately and hid somewhere.

I checked around the room and noticed that Matsumoto had disappeared. I didn't recall seeing her since she exited my room with my blanket. _Why does she have to go shopping when a crazy Kurosaki attacks!?And where is my blanket?_

**_Maybe because a crazy Kurosaki is a dangerous thing. And you really need to forget that blanket for a moment_**, Hyorinmaru said. _Still, she just abandoned her captain! _I complained to him. **_She has faith in you and believes you won't lose?_** Hyorinmaru suggested. _More like she doesn't want to get involved and lose shopping time._

I jumped out of the broken window and headed towards Urahara's place. There it wouldn't be such a big thing is Ichigo destroyed things before I would manage to calm him and get an answer from him.

"Don't you run away, you little brat!" he roared and ran after me. He called his mask out and shot a Getsuga Tenshou at me. _What have I ever done to him? _**_Maybe you should ask that. _**_You make it sound so easy. He's going ballistic! _

I quickly dodged his attack and drew Hyorinmaru out, just in case I'd have to use him.

"Kurosaki, stop! I haven't done anything to make you attack!" I yelled at Ichigo, holding Hyorinmaru ready to dodge his attacks.

"Then would you like to explain why I found _your haori_ from _our washing machine_?" he yelled back and I swallowed loudly. _He found the haori. But why is he so angry about it. His sister just washed some guy's clothes… which were bloody… on the day his sister got hurt… Okay, maybe he has a reason to attack me, or he thinks he has._

"It's quite a coincidence that you had blood on your haori on the same day Karin fell down some stairs. I'm starting to doubt she didn't fall any stairs!" Ichigo yelled and charged at me. I blocked Zangetsu with Hyorinmaru and tried to trip him using my legs but he jumped and avoided my legs.

_I would have doubted it from the beginning! I mean is he stupid? _**_Well, at least he isn't the sharpest pen in the box._**

"Maybe she didn't fall any stairs, but why are you attacking me? If she didn't fall any stairs then does it mean I did something?" I yelled back and blocked a few other swings from Zangetsu. It was getting pretty hard, considering he was using bankai and I still wasn't using even shikai.

"Reign over the Frozen Heavens, Hyorinmaru!" I yelled and sent the ice dragon towards Ichigo, who blew it away with a Getsuga Tenshou.

"How else there would be blood on your haori?" he asked and shunpoed behind me. I swirled around and blocked his sword just in time.

"Kurosaki, stop this now! I didn't do anything to your sister! Why do you think I would hurt Karin?" I yelled and wrapped Hyorinmaru's chain around his arm, which began to freeze immediately. He moved away and broke the ice (**A.N. And now I have Break the Ice by Britney Spears stuck in my head -.-)**.

"Yes, Ichigo stop this now", I heard a familiar voice yell. Both I and Kurosaki turned to look at Rukia, who was staring at Ichigo looking pretty angry. _Ichigo is so going to get some frost bites. And I'm not sure whether it will be me or Kuchiki giving them. _**_I don't want to bite his ass, sorry, so it'll have to be Kuchiki._**

_Thanks for the image, _I shuddered. The dragon laughed in my head. Which can really cause a headache on a bad day. Like today.

"Listen to Rukia Ichi-nii! You're just being stupid. And over-protective. So take the mask of NOW!" Karin growled from behind Rukia. I noticed that Rukia was holding her piggyback style. **_Probably 'cause she can't stand in the air like you three can_**_. __Good point._

"Karin? What are you doing here?" Ichigo asked stopping and removing his Hollow mask, staying in bankai though.

"What do you think? I'm here to stop you from being more stupid than you already are", Karin growled angrily and Ichigo backed away. **_He's wiser than he looks. He understands that when a woman is angered, you better back away, _**Hyorinmaru chuckled.

"Captain Hitsugaya, could you come here please", Rukia asked without looking at me, holding Karin tightly in her back. It was a good thing, since Karin looked like she was ready to attack Ichigo, not caring that he was thirty meters away from her and she was about fifty meters above ground.

I moved closer to Rukia, who finally turned to look at me. Her eyes were almost flaming with anger. I started to sweat a little. _Is it safe to be this close to her? She's not gonna attack, is she? _**_I think you're safe. Can't say the same about Ichigo though._**

"Take Karin. I need to do something", Rukia said and turned her back (and Karin) towards me. I was caught completely off-guard.

"What? Why?" I asked without thinking. That doesn't happen often. Rukia looked me like I was stupid.

"Someone needs to hold her when we're this high. And I don't have the patience to take her down, so you can do it", she said and I decided to do as she said. I reached my arms and gently lifted Karin to my arms from Rukia's back.

"You have changed your haori", she noted to me as soon as she was in my arms. I smirked at her.

"Well of course, remembering you have my other haori. Which brings us to the question, wasn't your brother supposed to avoid washing clothes?" I told her and she blushed a bit, smiling sheepishly.

"Yeah, well I kinda forgot to take the laundry out of the machine and he must have decided to help me when he noticed them this morning. And so he found the haori. And as you can see, he didn't like it", she said still smiling. I sighed and smiled a bit too.

"What a day for him to decide to do that", I smiled and Karin nodded. Suddenly we both felt a cool breeze and turned to look at Rukia and Ichigo. Rukia was holding Sode no Shirayuki in her hand and looked like she was ready to attack Ichigo.

"Ichigo are you seriously an idiot?" she asked smiling very dangerously. Ichigo shook his head. Rukia took a step closer.

"Then why can't you listen to your own sister before jumping into conclusions? Very unlikely conclusions, to be exact", she said sounding way too calm. Ichigo shrugged.

"The brother instinct, you know. I need to protect my sisters", he said. _That is a good reason, but it's a bit too used in his case._

"Then could you let your sister live her own life from now on? At least a bit? And if you can't, could you maybe _not wake me up in the morning because of a misunderstanding"_, she asked growling in the end and Ichigo seemed to notice that he was in danger.

"Sorry, I should have kept my voice down", he tried to calm Rukia down, to no affair though.

"You know how tired I'm in the mornings when you keep me up so late at night, don't you?" Rukia's voice was way too calm again. She lifted the zanpakutou and made four punctures to the ground.

"Tsugi no Mae, Hakuren!" she yelled and a white wave shot towards Ichigo, who had not prepared himself for the attack and ended up being frozen.

"Outs, that can't be pleasant", Karin said and I chuckled a little.

"Ichigo must have learned his lesson. Never make a woman angry, especially if she owns a sword", I said and Karin started to laugh.

"Let's leave those two love birds alone. It's never a good idea to go between quarreling lovers", Karin said and I nodded.

"I can take you home, since it looks like you weren't planning on going out this early. You're still in your pajamas", I noted causing Karin to look at herself. She made a *eep* sound when she noticed I was right and blushed deep red.

"What are you embarrassed about? It's normal for a fifteen-year old girl to wear teddy bear pajamas", I laughed and Karin slapped my arm.

"Sorry, if I just quickly decided to come and save your sorry ass", she mumbled and I chuckled. I shot a final glance at Ichigo and Rukia (Rukia was just cutting Ichigo out of the ice to probably continue yelling at him) and shunpoed away.

* * *

After running for a while I finally decided to break the silence with a question that had been in my mind since yesterday.

"So, are Kuchiki and your brother really dating? It has been only rumored about in Soul Society, and rumors can't always be trusted, though this time it seems like it's true", I said and Karin looked at me a bit surprised.

"Of course they are! When I first met Rukia before the Winter war, I noticed right away from the looks she gave Ichi-nii, that they were more than friends. And I also noticed how Ichi-nii always stared at Rukia when she didn't notice it", Karin said and smiled at her memories.

"They have been doing a good job hiding it in Soul Society, because no one have been able to confirm the rumor", I said and couldn't help but once again wonder how all women seemed to notice these things. _She may look a bit tomboyish, but she certainly has her woman instincts._

"Renji seemed to know about their relationship. I mean I met him only yesterday, and I can't really forget the way we met, but I mean, he knew what Ichi-nii was really talking about when he explained the Rukia-lives-in-my-closet thingy", Karin said. **_Why can't she forget her meeting with Renji? _**Hyorinmaru asked me. _That's something I'd like to know too._

"Renji and Rukia practically grew up together and he seems to be really close with your brother so no wonder if he knows about it. But what did you mean by the 'can't forget' –part?" I asked.

"I met him right after he had taken a shower. Are all Shinigami, or at least male Shinigami, that muscular?" she asked looking straight into my eyes. I just stared at her, eyes wide. _Is she honestly expecting me to answer that? And what on earth was he wearing to show her his muscles? I didn't just think about that! _**_Yes, you did, and I think he might have been wearing absolutely nothing. _**_I DON'T NEED THAT IMAGE, THANK YOU!_

Karin was still staring at me. I sighed and looked away regaining my composure. Then I looked at her again and sighed.

"Why would I know? Don't answer that!" I quickly added as she opened her mouth. "See, I don't really look at other male Shinigami to check how muscular they are", I said closing my eyes in annoyance.

"Well, are the female Shinigami muscular, or are they more cat like?" she asked causing me to stare at her wide eyed for the second time during our way to Kurosaki clinic.

"I-I-I" I tried to say something, but my brain seemed to stop working completely. Even Hyorinmaru was silent, probably too shocked to say anything. **_She sure is straight-forward, isn't she? _**Okay, forget everything about too shocked. Nothing can shock that dragon. **_There are many things that can shock me. You just don't know me. _**_Oh, shut it!_

"Toushiro, you're blushing!" Karin laughed and I realized that my cheeks tingled which probably meant I was redder than I had ever been.

"And by the way, you just shunpoed past our clinic", she said looking over my shoulder. I followed her gaze and realized that she was right. I quickly turned around and with only few seconds, I was in front of the front door.

"You can come in Toushiro. I still have your haori, and judging by those tea stains on that haori I'd guess Ichi-nii interrupted your breakfast. Yuzu is a great cook as you probably have noticed!" Karin said as set her feet in the ground, still keeping my arm around her shoulder for some reason. She didn't seem to mind.

"I left my gigai at Orihime's place, so Yuzu can't see me", I reminded her, though Yuzu's food was extremely good and I still wanted to spend more time with Karin.

"I can bring food to my room. Yuzu won't mind, she knows I like to do other stuff while eating, so it's not unusual for me to take my food with me", she said smiling and walking towards the door. When she walked farther from me I had to take my arm from off from her shoulders, but when I did, she moved her hand towards mine and grabbed it to drag me inside.

I hadn't been in any other part of the house than Ichigo's and Karin's rooms so I looked around a bit curiously. One thing that caught my eyes was a big poster on one of the walls. _She looks a bit like Karin and Yuzu. And Ichigo. She must be their mother! But why is her poster on the wall, _I wondered.

Karin turned to look at me and noticed my stare. She followed my eyes and chuckled a bit when she noticed what I was staring at.

"If you hadn't already realized, our family is a bit unique. Our dad is probably the weirdest person; he's the one who put that poster there. He goes to cry against it every time he is sad or happy." I raised my eyebrow. "Don't ask", Karin laughed.

I let my gaze travel across the room. It seemed to be otherwise regular house. At least the feeling I got from it was calming, cozy.

"Hey! What do you want to eat?" Karin called from the kitchen. I followed her voice and saw her peeking around the fridge's door.

"What do you have?" I asked and jumped a bit to sit on the kitchen counter. I noticed a note next to me. _I'm gone to the grocery store, we're out of butter. –Yuzu_

"We have some scrambled eggs here, and some soup, maybe fish, and then –" Karin started to list everything she found.

"Scrambled eggs sounds good", I said. I didn't want to be too much of a bother. Karin took a plate and a bottle of milk from the fridge and smiled.

"Scrambled eggs it is! Do you drink milk?" she asked and I nodded. She turned her back to me and opened a couple of cupboards and took two smaller plates, forks and knives and two glasses from them.

"Now to my room. And by the way, would you like me to wash that haori for you, or will you wash it by yourself this time?" Karin asked pointing towards the stains. I chuckled a bit.

"Maybe it's better if I'll handle this one by myself", I said and Karin laughed too.

We climbed the stairs and went to eat in Karin's room. She sat on the bed and I just leaned on the wall.

"Oh, here is your haori!" she exclaimed as she sat down and picked the neatly folded clean haori from her bed. "But maybe you want to eat first", she smiled and put the haori down.

For a moment the only sound in the room came from our eating, but soon I decided to break the silence.

"I've been wondering this for a while. Can you fight against Hollows? I mean I remember that your brother mentioned something when you talked with him outside the class and one of the Hollows yesterday had a crack in its mask", I said and Karin lifted her head to look at me.

"Yup, I have been fighting low-level Hollows since before Winter war and after it Urahara and Yoruichi trained me to fight even better. Yoruichi did most of the training, since I don't have a sword to train with. Urahara suggested I could become a Shinigami, but I think I can live without a Hollow in my head", she smirked and I had to agree she had a good point.

"You've had a pretty great training then. Urahara and Yoruichi are both ex-captains, so they know their stuff", I noted and Karin smiled widely.

"I know. They told me about their time in Soul Society. I think I would like to go there sometime to visit", she said looking a bit dreamy. I looked at her a bit oddly.

"What? It sounds cool and I know I could go there without having to die, since I know Ishida, Chad and Orihime were there and none of them is a Shinigami or dead", she said rolling her eyes.

"You have a point there. I was just surprised you'd want to go there. I mean there isn't much there", I told. I at least thought the real world was much more interesting, and I know most of the Shinigami share my opinion.

"I want to meet all of the captains! I think you're the first true captain I have met, I mean since Urahara and Yoruichi are both ex-captains. And I'd like to meet all of the vise-captains too! Which reminds me that I don't think I've met your vice-captain", she said turning to look at me and I realized that she in fact hadn't met her.

_That's odd. You'd think Matsumoto would be so eager to meet Karin. _**_Your vice-captain is full of surprises. _**_Full of surprises, I don't know about that, but she has few surprising ways to act._

"You will meet her, trust me, she would never want to miss meeting you", I said with a mental sigh.

"That sounds good! Hey, could you pass me the medicine from the table there", she said pointing at the small bottle. I picked it up and glanced at it. _Why is there a skull on a medicine bottle? Is it really safe for her to eat these? _**_They're from Urahara. _**_If that's supposed to be calming, it really fails._

"Catch!" I said and tossed the bottle to her. She caught it with no trouble at all. "Are you feeling better yet? I mean do the wounds still hurt much?" I asked a bit worriedly. _Is it good for her to try and tame a crazy brother in her condition?_

"Don't worry, this medicine Urahara gave me is really good. Every pill like blows the pain away! I'm soon as good as new", she said smiling. _The skull still worries me a bit…_

Suddenly we both felt Ichigo's reiatsu getting closer, not too fast though, so either he didn't notice me or Rukia had really calmed him down. I assumed it was the first, since that man seemed to be a bit hardheaded.

"I think I'd better leave now. See you Monday at school?" I said putting the plate down on the desk. Karin stood up from the bed and put her plate next to mine and gave my haori to me.

"Yeah, see you then. Have fun with your vice-captain, and tell her I'd like to meet her sometime!" she said and I jumped out off her window after waving my hand at her.

* * *

**Karin's POV**

I watched Toushiro's back until he disappeared from my sight. After I wasn't able to see him anymore, I sighed and picked the plates up to take them to kitchen. Just as I was about to open the door, it was opened from the other side.

"Hi Ichi-nii. Would you mind moving a bit, I need to take these downstairs", I said and tried to move around him. He stopped me.

"Just put those down for a moment. I need to talk with you", he said and I turned sighing and put the plates back to the desk as Ichigo sat on my bed.

"I assume that the subject will be Toushiro", I said and sat down next to Ichigo. He nodded.

"How close are you with him? And since when have you known him?" Ichigo asked staring at me. I wasn't sure whether to get annoyed or bored with his questioning already.

"He's the new student in our class, so I met him only yesterday. But he's a nice person and I like his company, so I guess you could say that we might be friends", I explained. Ichigo raised his eyebrows.

"The ice-boy? How can you like a company of someone who is like made of ice?" he asked seriously surprised.

"HE ISN'T LIKE THAT!" I said angrily. Sure, I had noticed how Toushiro acted with other people, but it seemed to be a mask to show the world and guard the real him. From the first time we met and I managed to lure the real him out I had been trying to do that more often. In my opinion people should be like they are.

"Well then what's he like?" Ichigo asked and it was my turn to be surprised. _It's like I'm talking with him about the boy I like! Since when has Ichi-nii been like that?_ I glanced at him.

"Kon, is that you?" I asked suspiciously. Ichigo smiled sheepishly, which told me that it really was Kon.

"Why are you in Ichi-nii's body? Did he tell you to talk with me?" I asked smiling dangerously. Kon chuckled nervously.

"He's being himself, you see. He just wanted to know what you think about that Hitsugaya dude", Kon said backing away from me.

"And why couldn't he do it himself?" I asked raising an eyebrow. Kon looked like he wanted to jump out of the window any second now.

"He thought he'd lose his nerve and you wouldn't tell him anything then", Kon said, sweating really badly.

"Oh really?" I said and stood up. Kon had been moving closer to the window inch by inch but I stopped him.

"You're coming with me!" I said to him and grabbed the neckline of his shirt and dragged him after me. I stopped at Ichigo's door, drew in a breath and stormed in.

And immediately regretted not knocking.

Ichigo had only the pants of his Shinigami outfit on and he was lying on his bed, lips locked with Rukia's. I wasn't as if I wouldn't have ever seen Ichigo kissing Rukia. I just had never walked in on a make-out session between the two of them and not especially on one which seemed to be the beginning of something much more.

The two of them didn't even notice me and Kon standing at the doorway, staring at them.

Kon opened his mouth to say something (probably yell something about nee-san) but I quickly threw my hand on his mouth and dragged him out of the room.

"Hey! I thought you were angry at Ichigo!" Kon exclaimed annoyed when we were safely in the hallway.

"Yes I was and still am, but I think that we'd better let those two have their time and I can be angry at him later", I told the mod soul. He pouted a little, but still didn't go back to Ichigo's room. _You owe me one Ichi-nii!_

* * *

**Toushiro's POV, few weeks later.**

The past few weeks have been nicer than I would have ever expected. I have become really close with the Kurosaki twins, especially with Karin.

At school we can easily chat during the classes because of our seats are in the back and Miss Ochi doesn't mind it really that much, most likely because we're the best of our class.

I always ate the lunch at the roof with Karin (and sometimes with Yuzu too, though she likes to eat outside with her friends too). It's quiet at the roof, because for some odd reason none of the girls in out class ever followed us there (I guess they're afraid of Karin) not that I mind it though. Our lunched were always made by Yuzu, and I just started to love her food. I don't think I've ever eaten anything so good!

When Yuzu was around we talk about school and soccer and about all things usual for kids our age. When it was only the two of us, we talked about stuff we can't talk when someone hears us. I told her stories about my time in Soul Society (both before and after I became a Shinigami) and she told me about her childhood.

Occasionally Hyorinmaru changed a few words with her (of course I have to be the middleman because it's not a good idea for a huge ice dragon to form in the roof of a school, even if most of the students couldn't see him). Karin always loved these little chats with the dragon and one time I asked why.

"Isn't it obvious? I just love dragons! I mean they're the most majestic creatures I can think of!" she answered me eyes shining. That was one huge ego boost for Hyorinmaru, and he really started to literally adore Karin.

After school I always walked with the twins to Kurosaki clinic, and if Ichigo wasn't at home I even had a snack with them. Yuzu noticed after few days that I always stayed when Ichigo wasn't around, which caused her to look at Karin and me knowingly more often than before.

If Ichigo was at home, I went to Orihime's place to drop my gigai and, after beating some Hollows, went back to the Kurosaki clinic, entering trough Karin's window. We continued our chatting and sometimes Karin helped taught me things about the real world. One example was the day she taught me to use computer.

Those machines are crazy! I mean you can found anything from Internet. Karin taught me for a couple of hours and as a result I can now use the computer at least for basic things. I think we should get computers to Soul Society too, they would really be a great help in doing paperwork. At least I wouldn't pour tea on the paperwork anymore.

If Karin had a soccer practice, I always walked her to the field and sat on top of a building watching the practice. Of course, sometimes I had to leave to beat up a Hollow or two, but I always returned to the field. Sometimes Matsumoto joined me, though first times she claimed I was a stalker.

After one practice which Matsumoto had come to see, she and Karin finally met. When the rest of Karin's team had left the field (Karin always was the last so that no one would be able to see me jumping from the roof) she surprised Karin by landing in front of her.

"You must be the Karin I've heard so much about! It's so nice to finally meet you!" she exclaimed happily and pulled Karin into a tight hug. _She must have some trouble breathing, _I thought. It was experience which told me that. **_Maybe you should help her! I don't want my best friend to be suffocated by your vice-captains breasts! _**Hyorinmaru said panicking. _Hey! Since when has she been your best friend? Aren't I supposed to be the closest person to you? _**_Help her already!_**_ Fine…_

"Matsumoto, let her go, you're suffocating her", I said sounding maybe a bit bored. She looked at me and then at the girl she was hugging and let her go.

"Sorry, I do that often, I just tend to forget how my boobs get in the way", she said smiling. Karin looked at her totally flabbergasted.

"I'm Matsumoto Rangiku! You can always call me just Rangiku", she said and offered her hand to Karin.

"Kurosaki Karin", Karin managed to mumble, still staring at Matsumoto like she had just fallen from Mars.

"Is something wrong? You seem to be a little… how do you say… not on this planet?" Matsumoto asked waving her hand in front of Karin's face. She snapped out of her trance and even closed her mouth (which had been hanging open whole time).

"Sorry, I was just surprised. You're pretty different than I had imagined from what I had heard from Toushiro", Karin said and smiled her usual smile. Matsumoto shot a quick glance at me, noticing I didn't mind the fact Karin used my first name.

"So Captain Hitsugaya has told you about me! That's so nice to hear", Matsumoto exclaimed happily, and I hid my smile.

"You seem to be a fun person to be around. I'm sure he's glad you're his vice-captain", Karin said and shot a knowing glance at me, which (thank God) Matsumoto missed. Still she started to smile even wider.

"Aww, you're so nice Karin! You're just adorable", Matsumoto exclaimed and tried to hug Karin again, which she gracefully avoided.

"Thanks, but let's leave the hug out this time", she chuckled and Matsumoto started laughing too.

"I really like you, kid", she said and ruffled Karin's hair. _Karin seems to be popular among Shinigami, _I thought. Last time I had visited Urahara's he had asked me how Karin was doing, causing Renji, who had been training there, to start to tell something how he thought that Karin was like a female mini-version of Ichigo, only with more brain. It was a really odd and funny way to describe her, but at the same time it was really accurate.

After the first meeting between Karin and Matsumoto they grew really close. Matsumoto came more often with me to watch her practice and sometimes after school Karin came to Orihime's place to hang out with me, Matsumoto and Renji. It was funny to look at Renji and Karin arguing about stuff, mostly because Renji's face was priceless every time he realized that Karin had outsmarted him.

Sometimes after the soccer practice, I played with Karin the same way we had when we made the bet. We are at a pretty same level, so the games were always pretty tiring, sometimes she won and sometimes I.

A few times we met Hollows when we were together somewhere and no matter what I said, Karin always attacked a Hollow or two, sometimes managing to beat them before I was able to help her. Every time I told her to take cover and stand back and every time she didn't listen. Even though I had to admit she's a pretty good fighter, I got an uneasy feeling every time I saw her run towards a Hollow.

Mostly our lives were normal, we had school and homework (sometimes we did homework together to get them done faster) until came that day. The day when my life in real world practically was ruined.

* * *

It was a normal school day. We had only few weeks to the vacation and because we had a spring festival in our school, we didn't get as much homework and at school everyone was always getting ready for the festival.

"We have a problem", Miss Ochi said first thing that day. Everyone was silent and listened to her.

"As you know, our class was going to do the band performance for the festival, but the singer, Usaka Kazuya is not going to be able to sing", she told and few people gasped.

"Relax everyone, it's nothing serious. He fell down some stairs and broke his foot, so he won't be able to perform. Now, if we don't find another singer, I don't know what to do", Miss Ochi sighed. The whole class began to talk and fuss.

"That's no problem!" Karin exclaimed happily causing everyone to shut up and turn to stare at her. I raised my eyebrow quizzically and she smirked evilly at me. _I have a feeling that this won't be a good thing._

"Toushiro can sing!" Karin announced everyone. My jaw probably hit the desk. I wouldn't have noticed if it did. I was just way too shocked. _What? Why? What? Is she crazy?! _**_Ooo, that's a nice idea! You have great voice,_** Hyorinmaru chuckled.

"Toushiro can sing instead of Kazuya! Right Toushiro?" she asked turning to look at me with a smirk, which I can only describe as pure evil, on her face. _Remember the bet,_ she mouthed to me.

_I'm dead. I'm so dead. _**_Yes you are, otherwise you wouldn't be from Soul Society. _**_You had to take it so literally? _**_Of course! _**I was able feel the dragon smirk innocently.

"Yes, I can sing at the festival", I hissed trough gritted teeth. Karin smiled smugly as everyone started to cheer and some girls started to discuss about my outfit for the show.

"Karin, you're really evil", I hissed at her once everyone's attention was turned away from me. She turned to look at me with puppy dog eyes.

"But we had the bet. And you lost. And I needed to come up with an idea for what you should do. Don't worry, there are only two things left after this", she smiled and I glared at her.

"You don't even know if I can sing", I hissed angrily. She smirked. _Help me, someone!_

"Oh, yes I know that you can sing! Rangiku told me one day I was at Orihime's place. By the way, Orihime seems to never be there. She seems to practically live at Ishida's."

_Damn, Matsumoto must have told her about the karaoke contest Momo persuaded me to take part in! _**_Hey, maybe Matsumoto could film the show! I know everyone in the Soul Society would love to see it!_** _Thank God no one else can hear that idea._

"Hey Toushiro, maybe Rangiku could film the show! It would be so great!" Karin exclaimed happily. **_Hey, we think the same way! _**_Unfortunately._

I sighed deeply. This was going to be torture!

* * *

**Woot! This is the longest chappie I've written! And sorry that the update was so slow. I had a total block! I just had no idea how to continue, but then it just clicked!**

**And any ideas about the song Toushiro should sing are more than welcome!**

**And if the Britney Spears comment offended any one in any way, I don't mean that I don't like her songs, it's just annoying when you have a song stuck in your head.  
**

**Please Review, it's like chocolate to my brain. And my brain is a choco-holic!**

**Thanks for reading and bye-bye :)  
**


	8. Dreaming

**Chappie number eight!**

**Disclaimer: I haven't own Bleach even in my dreams.**

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* * *

  
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**Toushiro's POV**

After the most annoying school day I had ever had I was walking to Orihime's with Karin constantly smirking next to me. I was a bit pissed off at her. Not much though. We made a bet and she had won it fair and square, so she had every right to volunteer me to sing. But still, it was annoying.

"Why couldn't you have come up with any other idea? I have to sing to the whole school!" I pouted. Karin patted my head with a smirk.

"There there, kiddo, it won't be that hard", she laughed at ran a little bit away from me as I swatted her hand away. A tick mark appeared on my forehead.

"I'm not a kid, and you know it!" I told her as she stopped to wait for me. She was still smiling, though it seemed to be a little apolitical.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You don't like being called a kid, do you?" she asked and I shook my head, although it was a bit unnecessary. During the few weeks we had known each other we had become pretty close.

"I guess it's understandable since you're pretty old, but still you _are _a kid", she said and I just growled at her.

"And hey, it could have been worse. I could have made you just sing without any back round band and everything. And the song could have been really embarrassing, but now since it's the band performance you'll just have a couple of songs, which are easy enough to learn", Karin said with a shrug.

**_She has a point. Imagine if you'd have to sing a song like perhaps It's okay to be gay by Tomboy. That would have been something!_** Hyorinmaru said and I shuddered. _How do you know that song? I mean, you __are __a sword!_ **_I'm aware to my surroundings. _**

"Having a conversation with Hyorinmaru once again?" Karin said stopping in front of me and staring straight into my eyes. I smirked.

"You've become good at noticing that", I said approving. Karin smiled a bit proudly.

"It's pretty easy to notice when you ignore my questions and just stare into space. What did you talk about?" she asked curiously.

"Nothing big, he just made a very, _very _stupid and disturbing suggestion to what you should have made me sing", I told. "And no, I'm not telling you what it is", I continued as Karin opened her mouth. She closed it and smirked a bit guiltily. I knew she would have loved to hear it so that she could make me sing it.

"Hey, let's go buy some ice cream!"she suddenly exclaimed and grabbed my hand to drag me into the store close Orihime's apartment. It always seemed to be so trivial for her, but I actually liked the closeness when we were holding hands.

"I think I'll get strawberry… What flavor do you want, Toushiro?" she asked bending over the ice-cream desk. **(A.N. The grocery store just happens to have an ice-cream desk, I don't know if any store really has one, but whatever) **

"I'll have just vanilla", I answered shrugging.

"You sure about that? They have watermelon flavored too", she said pointing to the pinkish ice-cream. I walked closer to look.

"That sounds like an odd ice-cream flavor. Well, I guess could try it", I shrugged and she turned to look at the man behind the ice-cream desk.

"We'll have one strawberry and one watermelon ice-cream", she said and the man scooped quickly two pinkish ice-cream balls into two cones.

"Here you go, little miss. That'll be 365 yen (c. 3 € or 4 USD)", the man said smiling. Karin was about to hand him the money, but I stopped her.

"These will be on me", I said smiling at her and handing the man the money without breaking the eye contact with Karin. She looked at me and blushed a bit. She quickly turned her eyes away and took the ice-cream cones from the man.

"Thanks", she mumbled to him and he smiled.

"Have fun kids!" the man called after us as we walked away. _I really am a kid here. But that's still annoying._

"Let's go to the park to eat these. It's so pretty outside so it'll be no fun to sit inside", Karin said and pointed towards the park across the street.

"That sounds like a good idea. Especially because the air conditioner at Orihime's place is broken and I don't like to be in boiling hot places", I said and Karin laughed as we walked to the park.

"I thought you could cool the air enough", she said cocking her head.

"Well I can, but I need to concentrate a bit or have my feelings out of control, so I'd rather have a working air conditioner", I told.

We walked to the edge of a small clearing next to the path. There were a few kids playing soccer. Karin watched them play smiling.

"It's a shame we don't have a ball with us. Though it's pretty hot, so it would be a bit more tiring than usually", Karin sighed after a while.

"I wouldn't let you play when the weather is like this. You'd have a heatstroke!" I said shaking my head. Karin chuckled.

"You're being so caring. Hey, your ice-cream is melting", she noted and I noticed she was right. The ice-cream was slowly staring to drip. I quickly licked it.

"Is it good? I've never tasted watermelon ice-cream", Karin asked staring at the ice-cream.

"Here, have a lick", I said and offered her the cone. She licked the ice-cream and pulled back with a thoughtful expression. Then her face brightened again.

"It's good!" she smiled and I nodded. Suddenly we were interrupted with a long *aww* sound.

"Are you two on a date?" Matsumoto asked as she approached us with Renji, both of them wearing a Shinigami outfit.

Karin blushed and I just stared at Matsumoto quizzically.

"I take that as a maybe", she said smiling slyly. Renji looked us curiously. I just sighed.

"What are you two doing here? I don't sense any Hollows", I asked the duo.

"Yeah, not yet you do. For once we got an order _before _the Hollow appeared", Matsumoto explained. _Wow, that's something that doesn't happen often. Usually they're late! _**_Well, they have to do something right at least sometimes!_**

"So where is that Hollow going to appear?" I asked. Karin also seemed to be interested, though I decided immediately that I wouldn't let her fight the Hollow, no matter how much she wanted.

"On that field in about a minute", Matsumoto answered and Karin gasped.

"The kids are playing there! We need to get them away", she said and turned to run to the field.

"Karin stop! Let us handle this!" I yelled after her. She completely ignored me. I sighed annoyed and turned to look at Renji and Matsumoto.

"Be ready to beat that Hollow", I told the two of them and ran after Karin, who was already half way to the kids.

Suddenly, the sky was ripped open in front of her and an Adjuchas stepped out of the hole. _Oh crap!_

Karin stopped dead in her tracks. She seemed to notice that her opponent was way out of her league. Quickly she turned around and started to run to the opposite direction. The Hollow however didn't seem to like it and started to charge a Cero.

I popped a soul candy into my mouth and shunpoed closer to her. I sensed Matsumoto and Renji shunpoing after me, but I'm the fastest and was already closer to Karin, so I reached her first.

There was no time to start attacking the Hollow before it would shoot the Cero, so I just picked Karin to my arms and went upwards hoping that the Hollow would try to shoot the Cero after me. It would be safer to dodge it in the air where it wouldn't hit anyone else.

My plan worked perfectly and when the Hollow shot the Cero, I was far enough to dodge it with ease. After dodging the Cero I turned to look back at the Hollow. Matsumoto and Renji were already attacking it and it didn't take long before they defeated it.

"We should head back to the ground. People might not see you, but remember that I'm still seeable. It's not normal for a high school student to float in the air", Karin stated as we watched the Hollow disappear.

"Oh, you're right!" I realized and quickly landed behind some trees so that no one would notice. My gigai was already waiting for me. And he was still holding my ice-cream.

"Thanks", Karin mumbled as I set her feet safely to the ground. I turned to look at her and she looked away blushing a bit.

"I shouldn't have run like that. I should have listened to you", she continued still staring at her feet. I smiled.

"Then you wouldn't have been you. The Karin I know never thinks of her own safety first. You just got worried about the kids, it's totally understandable", I said and she lifted her face to look at me. I smiled genuinely and her expression changed from embarrassed into thankful.

"I see you dropped your ice-cream", I noted as I entered my gigai. She looked around and realized she didn't have her ice-cream with her anymore. I handed my ice-cream to her.

"Here. You can have mine", I said and she smiled before licking the ice-cream. Matsumoto and Renji approached us.

"Are you two okay?" Renji asked, mostly glancing at Karin because she was the more vulnerable from the two of us.

"I'm totally fine. If you didn't see Toushiro caught me before anything happened", she said a bit angrily. _She doesn't like to be protected. She'd rather be the one protecting! _I realized. **_NO shit, Sherlock! _**

"By the way Captain Hitsugaya, I'm surprised Ichigo hasn't tried to kill you more than once. I know he's very protective about his sisters", Renji noted. Karin chuckled a little, for a memory a guess.

"That's because he doesn't know about how much we hang together, and you won't tell him about it, will you Abarai?" I said a bit threateningly. He put his hands in front of him and shook his head.

"Of course not Captain Hitsugaya, I wouldn't even think about that!" he said. Matsumoto giggled. I glanced at her, but I knew she wouldn't need to be told to not to say anything to Ichigo. She had realized that a long time ago (if you can call a couple of weeks a long time).

"Maybe we should go to Orihime's place. You need to practice the songs and it's easier when you first hear them. We can listen the songs from Internet", Karin said, getting excited about the band thing. _I wish she hadn't said that!_

"Practice songs? Why is that?" Matsumoto asked immediately and Renji looked way too curious for his own good. Karin shot an apologetical glance at me before she answered.

"Our class is having a band performance in the festival and Toushiro will be the singer", she told smiling. Matsumoto and Renji both first stared at her, turned to stare at me, and then started to have trouble containing their laughter.

"Captain Hitsugaya singing! In front of everyone! I need to film the show, that's for sure", Matsumoto managed to say between her giggles. Renji' s eyes were starting to tear up and he was soon howling with laughter. A tick appeared on my forehead and the air was starting to get colder.

"Hey, my ice-cream isn't melting anymore!" Karin noted, her breath showing in a puff, since the air was so cold. Matsumoto and Renji shivered with cold and stopped laughing, both glancing at me from the corners of their eyes.

"We will… just go and… look for another Hollow!" Matsumoto said and they both shunpoed away as fast as their feet were able to carry.

"Toushiro, it's getting really cold! I don't want to catch a cold in the beginning of summer", Karin told shivering and wrapping her arms around her as she sat down on the grass to eat her ice-cream. I relaxed and the air started to get warmer. The ice-crystals that had formed on the leaves near us started to melt.

"Sorry, I guess I got a little bit out of control", I said sitting down next to her and wrapping my arm around her shoulders to warm her more.

"It should be me apologizing. I told Rangiku and Renji that you're going to be singing", she said and leaned on me licking the ice-cream.

"It doesn't matter, she would have found it out sooner or later anyway", I said shrugging. Karin smiled and for a moment we just sat there, in a comfortable silence.

"By the way Toushiro, you don't have to be scared at the band practice, I'll be there with you. I play the lead guitar", Karin told me after a while.

"You can play guitar?" I asked lifting my eyebrows in surprise. She smirked.

"No, I just thought it would be fun. Of course I can play guitar if I'm in the band! Didn't you see the guitar in my closet when I pushed you there to hide from Ichi-nii?" she asked and I thought back to that day.

"No, I don't remember, though I was more worried that your brother would open the closet and try to kill me, so I didn't inspect the content of your closet", I answered smirking back and Karin laughed.

We sat there joking for a while and before we noticed the sun was starting to set.

"It's so late already! Yuzu will get worried if I'm out really late!" Karin suddenly exclaimed standing up. She dug her cell phone from the pocket of the school uniform's skirt and glanced at the clock before gasping.

"Dinner will be in five minutes! Old goat-chin will kill me if I'm late!" she said panicking (not much, a mini-panic). I stood up too.

"I can carry you if you want. That way you won't be late", I offered and she swirled around to look at me.

"You could? But isn't that trouble to you?" she asked and I shook my head.

"Not at all, my gigai won't have long way to go to Orihime's and besides it's kinda my fault you're late", I said.

"Well then I guess it's okay. Plus it's fun when you shunpo!" she exclaimed and walked closer to me. I popped a soul candy into my mouth and stepped closer to her. Swiftly, I lifted her to my arms and shunpoed away.

* * *

**Karin's POV**

As Toushiro lifted me into his arms once again I tried my best to hide my face from him without being suspicious. I had slowly begun to realize that during the short time we had known Toushiro had become closer to me than any guy had ever been. I had a crush on a freaking Shinigami! And a captain to boot!

But he really was good looking. He maybe was short, but he was muscular. And hey, I'm not too tall either. He had the most amazing teal eyes and so soft hair (hey, I pat his head all the time so I know). The most wonderful part was his smile. Even though he didn't smile often. That was a shame.

"Are you feeling okay? You're face is kinda red", he said leaning closer to me with concern in his eyes. I quickly shook my head and smiled a bit.

"I'm feeling just fine, no worries", I answered. He studied my face for a while and then just shrugged.

"Well, we'd better go now", he said and took off.

It was always so nice to be carried by someone shunpoing. The breeze, the speed and the view, all were just great. The only minus was that it was a bit too fast. It didn't take five minutes for Toushiro to shunpo the way that took half an hour to walk.

"We're here. I guess we weren't able to practice those songs today. Maybe we could meet tomorrow to sing, since it is Saturday", he said as he set me down in front of my front door.

"Ichi-nii is going to be home so we'd have to be at Orihime's", I answered. It was a bit annoying to always settle our meetings according to whether Ichigo was home or not.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible. Inoue told us that tomorrow she would like to have the house for herself, she's gonna invite Ishida over", Toushiro explained seeming to be a little disappointed. I thought for a moment.

"Maybe you could still come over! We could at least listen to the lyrics, and maybe I could kick Ichi-nii out at some point", I suggested and Toushiro's face brightened.

"That sounds good! I'll be here at ten in the morning; I think you should be able to wake up by then. I'll leave my gigai at Orihime's, so I can come in from the window", he said and I nodded. Suddenly we both felt Ichigo's reiatsu coming closer to the door.

"He must have heard us. See you tomorrow", Toushiro said and waved his hand before shunpoing away. I waved my hand, though I think he missed it.

The door opened and Ichigo stared at me, surprised that I was alone.

"Karin, who were you talking to?" he asked looking around to check if someone was hiding from him.

"I was on the phone. Kei wanted to know if we were going to play soccer tomorrow", I told him without a moment of hesitation. Ichigo looked at me and shrugged before letting me enter the house.

"Hi Rukia! You're eating with us today?" I greeted the raven haired girl sitting on the couch. She turned to look at me.

"Oh, hi Karin! Yeah, Ichigo invited me over, and I just can't resist Yuzu's cooking", she smiled. I smelled the air.

"She's making chicken! That's nice, we haven't had chicken for a while", I said and Yuzu peeked from the kitchen.

"Karin, you're home. I was getting worried. The food will be ready in a few minutes", she said and I nodded.

"Sorry, I forgot the watch the time. I'll go and change, then I'll come to eat", I said and quickly made my way up the stairs and to my room.

I took off the school uniform and put on baggy denim shorts and a tight black top. I also opened my ponytail and let my hair fall on my shoulders. _Hmm, maybe I should get a haircut. Though I like my hair a bit longer. I think I'll let it grow for a while and then think again._

"Karin, the food is ready", Ichigo yelled from downstairs.

"Coming!" I answered and walked downstairs.

"My darling Karin, where have you been all day", dad asked me the moment I had walked the stairs. I looked at him and shrugged.

"I was just walking around since it's so nice weather", I told and sat down next to Yuzu starting to eat. Yuzu glanced at me her eyes asking a question only I was able to read from them. _You were with Toushiro, weren't you? _I smiled and nodded, causing her to smile even wider.

"Yuzu, do you know something about this?" Ichigo asked after glancing between us for a second. Yuzu turned to look at him with perfect innocence shining from her eyes. _Man, she's good! I can never make my eyes look that innocent!_

"Why would I know anything? I was at home, not with Karin", she said sweetly and Ichigo shrugged.

"I figured she might have told you, you two happen to be pretty close", he mumbled, but didn't continue anymore.

The rest of the dinner went quickly, I chatted with Yuzu and Rukia, while dad and Ichigo decided to have some father-son bonding time.

"Nii-chan, the food is getting cold!" Yuzu said worriedly. The two men did nothing to stop.

"Don't worry about them. They'll eat cold food then", I said not even looking at them. Yuzu glanced a few times over to them, but then continued eating with a deep sigh. After Ichigo finally managed to get dad off him, he returned to the table while dad whined on the floor.

"Thanks Yuzu!" I said after I was done. I carried my plate to kitchen and walked upstairs. I was about to enter my room as I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to look at Ichigo.

"What is it?" I asked him. He had a serious look on his face. _I can sense I'm about to get a lecture._

"Could we talk for a while", he asked. I nodded and opened my door. He followed me in. I sat on the bed and he sat next to me.

"Karin, have you been spending time with Toushiro lately?" he asked shocking me completely. I thought he was once again going to complain about me killing Hollows.

"I don't see why I would need to tell you that", I said. He looked at me, a bit pissed maybe.

"You do know he's way much older than you?" he asked and I rolled my eyes.

"He is a Shinigami, so yeah. But I don't know what that has to do with anything. He's my classmate and a friend. You do know that Rukia is about 150 years old?" I asked him back. He shrugged.

"I know, but if counted as human years, she's about as old as me. But back to you, you and Toushiro are just friends, right?" he asked and I sighed.

"Yes Ichi-nii we're just friends", I answered looking away. _I kinda wish we were more than that._

Ichigo stared at me for a while before he got up. As he was about to open the door I called after him. He turned to look at me.

"You should call him Captain Hitsugaya", I smirked. Ichigo looked a bit stunned before he smirked back.

After Ichigo had left the room, I picked my iPod from my desk and started to listen to my music. I lied on the bed and closed my eyes, letting the music take me away. Before I realized it, I had fallen asleep.

* * *

**Dream**

I was on the soccer field. The field was completely empty; there were only the goals and me. It was night. I stared above and stared at the stars. Suddenly I saw a shooting star.

_I wish he was here now._

I cool breeze blew through the field. I turned to face the breeze and saw him standing in the other side of the field. I opened my mouth to call his attention, before I noticed he wasn't alone.

There was also Ichi-nii. They were calmly talking and slowly walking towards me. I hesitated for a moment before I called them.

"Toushiro, Ichi-nii, what are you doing here?" I yelled. Neither of the boys turned their heads. I was confused.

Soon the boys were right in front of me, only a couple of meters away. They still didn't seem to have noticed me. Only a meter away, they stopped and I realized I saw their mouths moving, but I didn't hear their voices.

"Hey, can you hear me?" I asked carefully, taking a step forward. Neither still looked at me. I waved my hand between them. They didn't seem to notice my hand.

"What is going on?" I asked from no one particularly. Suddenly a loud thud startled me. I turned around to look at a Huge Hollow. The boys didn't notice it, because neither of them even looked at it.

The Hollow started to walk closer. I ran towards it, planning to kill it, but as I tried to hit it, my hand just went through it. The Hollow didn't even turn to look at me. _It can't see me! It's like I'm not real._

The Hollow was now next to the boys. It opened its mouth and howled. It howled so loudly I had to cover my ears with my hands. It shut its mouth and lifted an arm to crush the boys.

Finally the boys turned around and seemed to notice the Hollow. Both reached for their swords, before realizing they were not in Shinigami forms. The hand of the Hollow was coming closer and they were going to be crushed any second.

"NO!" I screamed and ran towards the boys. I noticed immediately I was too slow. I would never reach them in time, and I didn't know if I'd just go through them too. But I had to save them.

I was only few meters away from the boys as Toushiro turned to look directly at me. I was sure he was able to see me. His eyes widened in shock.

"NO TOUSHIRO, GET OUT OF THE WAY!" I screamed.

My eyes opened and I stared straight into teal ones just above me.

"Toushiro", I whispered and surprised him by tackling him into a tight hug. He had been leaning over me, so I was now partially hanging from him.

"Karin, are you alright?" he asked sitting down on the bed, not letting go off me. I was breathing quickly, adrenaline going through my veins, tears stinging in the corners of my eyes. I blinked a few times to get rid of them. He pulled me to sit on his lap and started to rub my back. I clung onto him like my life depended on it and buried my face into his chest.

"Calm down. Just concentrate on breathing. It was just a dream whatever it was. It wasn't real", he said in calm, low voice and I nodded concentrating on breathing.

_Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out, _I thought slowly managing to calm my breathing down. I lifted my head from his head, and looked at him.

"Thanks. I've never had such a real nightmare", I said. He still continued to rub circles on my back, calming my still quickly beating heart down.

"What was it about? Of course you don't have to tell if you don't want to", he asked looking really worried moving me to sit sideways on his lap. I let go off him and moved my hands to my lap.

"I was at a soccer field, alone, at night", I started to tell him staring at my hands. "Then suddenly you came there, and Ichi-nii too. You talked and walked closer to me, but you weren't able to hear me or see me. And I wasn't able hear you voices. Then a Hollow came and it-it", I started to stutter and my voice caught in my throat.

"It's okay, none of that really happened", Toushiro said calmingly. I took a deep sigh and continued.

"I tried to kill it, but I just went through. It didn't notice me and walked closer to you two. You noticed it just as it was about to crush you. I tried to run to save you, but I wasn't fast enough. The dream ended when you finally saw me just as the Hollow's hand was just above your head."

After I finished telling the dream, we just sat in silence. I didn't have the courage to lift my face and look at him. Maybe the dream had revealed what I felt for him, because I got so hysterical over it. Now that I was thinking about it, it seemed to be rather childish.

"Karin, you're being quiet. Are you still scared because of the dream? Don't worry, that could never happen", he finally said softly. I looked at him. He was smiling comfortingly.

"But you fight with Hollows every day! Maybe someday you miss one and you'll get seriously hurt", I said concerned. He raised his eyebrows.

"Karin, I'm a captain. And I'm trained to kill Hollows. I could in fact say those things to you. You kill Hollows and even if you have a pretty high reiatsu, and some skills in hiding it –don't look so surprised, I've noticed- you're still just a fifteen-year old human. That's why I always tell you to leave the Hollows to us, Shinigami", he said.

I was really surprised he had noticed that I usually hid my reiatsu. I had started to do so when I noticed that I attracted Hollows to me. I didn't want Yuzu to get hurt because of me.

"Then maybe you should teach me to be stronger. We both know I'm not going to stop killing Hollows", I suggested. He sat silent for a moment, probably thinking about what I had said.

"I guess I could. Though it'd had to be hand to hand combat since you don't have a sword", he agreed and I smiled.

"Oh, you can use your sword too. Urahara has taught me how to fight against someone who has a sword with and without a sword. I admit that it's damn hard when you don't have a sword yourself!" I said and recalled the training with Urahara under the shop.

_*Flashback*_

"_Just like that Karin, concentrate on not hitting the edges, that would hurt. Just hit the flat of the sword", Urahara yelled and swung Benihime at me. I dodged the swung and tried to hit the sword away from me. He turned it so that I was inches away from hitting the blade._

"_Hey, that's cheating!" I yelled and jumped away from him. He laughed._

"_Oh no, that's just what your enemy would probably do. You must be prepared for anything", he said and ran at me again. I dodged and this time kicked the downside of his wrist. His grip of the sword was loosened and I used the moment to hit it away from his hand._

"_Woow~! Karin, you really did it", he said in a singsong voice. I smiled._

"_But you weren't serious", I noted and he smirked._

"_Maybe, maybe not"_

_I stuck my tongue at him._

_*End of Flashback*_

"He fought you using Benihime and you didn't have a sword at all!" Toushiro exclaimed, sounding a bit shocked. He looked even more shocked.

"Yeah, what about it", I asked. His face turned angry and his reiatsu began to rise, causing me to shudder with the cold. He looked at me and calmed down in a second.

"If I teach you, either we both have a sword or neither of us has one", he said still sounding pissed off.

"That's good. Those were the toughest practices I've ever had. I was always almost hitting the blade", I told and Toushiro's eyes flared.

"Hey, calm down, you're freezing my room!" I exclaimed as ice-crystals started to form on my sheets.

"Sorry", he muttered calming down again. "You have weird choice for a pajama today", he continued glancing at my outfit.

"I fell asleep while listening to music. That's the reason why I wasn't awake when you came", I explained and searched for my iPod with my eyes. I noticed it on the floor next to my bed. _It must have fallen off when I rolled around during my sleep. And the battery is probably dead._

"And I still need to take a shower before we start to practice the songs." My stomach grumbled.

"And apparently eat breakfast", Toushiro chucked. I blushed before chuckling too. Then happened something I wasn't prepared for.

"Oi Karin! Yuzu told me to bring your breakfast –", the enterer's sentence was cut off as he noticed us.

* * *

**Toushiro's POV, earlier the same morning**

My alarm woke me up at half ten. I rose up and yawned. _Is it really 9.30? How do I feel like I didn't sleep at all? _I wondered and rubbed my eyes as I walked to the bathroom. I took a quick shower to wake me up before I went to eat breakfast.

"Good morning Captain! Did you sleep well?" Matsumoto asked, already eating a sandwich. I sat down next her mumbling a yes. At the brand new table (we had to buy a new one, because Ichigo broke the previous) was already a teacup for me.

"You made tea for me. Thanks", I said before I took a sip. It was apple tea.

"You've bought new tea. I don't think I've had apple before", I said surprised. Matsumoto smiled.

"I thought you would like a change", she answered before standing up.

"Have you already decided what you will do today, or where you will stay tonight? You do remember that Orihime is having Ishida over?" Matsumoto asked as she put her plate in the dishwasher.

"I'm going to go to Kurosaki clinic. And maybe I'll spend a night there. Though I'll probably be at Urahara's. How about you?" I asked.

"I'm going to go shopping! There is a big sale at a mall near! And I guess I'll sleep at Urahara's, though he's gonna make me work", Matsumoto said excited.

"But I'm surprised if you can stay at the Kurosaki clinic. Renji is going to sleep there", she said smirking. I knew what she wanted to hear.

"I was thinking that Karin would let me sleep in her room. Or closet", I gave up. She would have somehow figured my plans out on herself, most likely she already had. **_You want to sleep in Karin's room. You know Ichigo will eat you alive if he finds out. _**_Yes, I know. That's why I said I'll be most likely at Urahara's._

Matsumoto left with a huge grin on her face and after I had eaten the breakfast and stuffed my empty gigai to my closet, I headed to the Kurosaki clinic.

I was outside Karin's window exactly at ten o'clock and as I looked inside I noticed she was still sleeping.

_Maybe her alarm didn't go off, _I thought as I climbed in trough the open window. I glanced across the room to check that everything was normal, before my eyes returned to Karin.

She was lying on her side, hair all over her pillow. Her expression was concerned, maybe even scared, and she breathing quickly. _Is she having a nightmare? _

I leaned over to her, wondering if I should wake her up, as I heard her mumble, "No"

I stretched my arm to shake her when she said louder, "No Toushiro, get out of the way". I drew my hand back in surprise. _She's having a dream about me. And it doesn't seem to be a good dream._

Suddenly she opened her eyes and stared right at me.

"Toushiro", she whispered, sounding maybe a bit relieved, before she tackled me into a hug. She clung to me and breathed quick breathes.

I instinctively wrapped my arms around her and sat down on the bed pulling her to sit on my lap. I started to rub her back to calm her down. I had never seen her this upset.

"Calm down. Just concentrate on breathing. It was just a dream whatever it was. It wasn't real", I said trying to sound as calming as I was able. She nodded and started to breathe more calmly.

"Thanks. I've never had such a real nightmare", she said. I got a bit upset. _She had a bad nightmare, and it was about me. _

"What was it about? Of course you don't have to tell if you don't want to", I asked, trying to sound as calming as I could to cover my curiousness. I moved her to a better position in my lap and she started to stare at her hands.

"I was at a soccer field, alone, at night. Then suddenly you came there, and Ichi-nii too. You talked and walked closer to me, but you weren't able to hear me or see me. And I wasn't able hear you voices. Then a Hollow came and it-it", she told, stopping when her voice caught in her throat.

"It's okay, none of that really happened", I told, relived that I didn't seem to be the reason she was so upset. It was the Hollow. Karin sighed deeply before she continued.

"I tried to kill it, but I just went through. It didn't notice me and walked closer to you two. You noticed it just as it was about to crush you. I tried to run to save you, but I wasn't fast enough. The dream ended when you finally saw me just as the Hollow's hand was just above your head."

I was really surprised. She was this upset because the Hollow in her dream had tried to kill me (and her brother). It made me kinda happy. I continued to rub her back, waiting for her to say something. When she remained silent I opened my mouth.

"Karin, you're being quiet. Are you still scared because of the dream? Don't worry, that could never happen", I said comfortingly and smiled at her. She lifted her face, fear in her eyes. _Why are you still so scared? _I wanted to ask.

"But you fight with Hollows every day! Maybe someday you miss one and you'll get seriously hurt", she said the fear in her eyes being replaced by concern. I raised my eyebrows. **_She really worries about you. _**_Feeling is mutual._

"Karin, I'm a captain. And I'm trained to kill Hollows. I could in fact say those things to you. You kill Hollows and even if you have a pretty high reiatsu, and some skills in hiding it –don't look so surprised, I've noticed- you're still just a fifteen-year old human. That's why I always tell you to leave the Hollows to us, Shinigami", I told her and smiled at her expression. She didn't seem to have realized I noticed her reiatsu rise really much every time she attacked a Hollow.

"Then maybe you should teach me to be stronger. We both know I'm not going to stop killing Hollows", she said and I started to think. _That actually is a good idea. That way I'll be more at ease when she runs to kill Hollows. _**_And you can spend even more time with her._**

"I guess I could. Though it'd had to be hand to hand combat since you don't have a sword", I told her and she smiled.

"Oh, you can use your sword too. Urahara has taught me how to fight against someone who has a sword with and without a sword. I admit that it's damn hard when you don't have a sword yourself!" she said still smiling, shocking me completely.

_She really can't mean that. Even Urahara can't be that stupid. _**_And crazy. Think about if Ichigo would find that out!_**

"He fought you using Benihime and you didn't have a sword at all!" I exclaimed to get her attention. She had zoned out. _And she complains every time I do that. _**_You do it more often. _**_Yeah, but whose fault it is? _Hyorinmaru shut up starting to pout. I ignored him.

"Yeah, what about it?" she asked and I started to get angry. My reiatsu must have started to rise, since she shuddered with cold. I calmed down not to freeze her.

"If I teach you, either we both have a sword or neither of us has one", I said still angry at Urahara. _He's a dead man walking._

"That's good. Those were the toughest practices I've ever had. I was always almost hitting the blade", she said my anger grew even more.

"Hey, calm down, you're freezing my room!" she suddenly exclaimed and I noticed that her sheet's had started to freeze. _Oops._

"Sorry", I muttered trying to calm down, this time it worked better. "You have weird choice for a pajama today", I continued trying to turn my attention away from my plans to kill Urahara.

"I fell asleep while listening to music. That's the reason why I wasn't awake when you came", she exclaimed. _ That explains it! Well, it's a good thing I came. If she had been alone when she woke up, she could have panicked even more._

"And I still need to take a shower before we start to practice the songs", she continued as her stomach grumbled.

"And apparently eat breakfast", I laughed. Karin looked back at her hands blushing before she laughed too. Suddenly the door opened.

"Oi Karin! Yuzu told me to bring your breakfast –", the enterer's sentence was cut off as he noticed us.

* * *

**And the mystery enterer will be revealed next time. Review to have the update faster!**

**I was actually not going to update today, but then I took a nice and relaxing sauna and my brain started to work again.**

**And about the band thing. Since it's a band, they'll have more than one song, but I'm going to write only two songs into the chapter, otherwise it would be too boring. I still need ideas for good songs, I only got one last time.**

**They should be pop or rock songs, and not totally love songs, a bit like that though. Like The Balance Beam by Blue October, which was suggested ( I don't remember the nick of the one who suggested and I can't find the review.)**

**But thanks for reading! Hugs to you reviewers!**


	9. 6th of May

**The end of this chappie just came to me suddenly and it was the easiest part to write ever!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, duh! **

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**Toushiro's POV**

There was a silence as me and Karin stared at the tall Shinigami holding a tray at the door and he stared back at us. Karin was the first one to recover. She jumped from my lap, practically ran to him, grabbed his collar and pulled him inside her room slamming the door shut.

"What are you doing here? And why are you bringing me breakfast", she hissed, face inches from his eyes squinted. _If I were him, I'd back away._ He backed away few steps. _Just like that…_

"You really are going out with Captain Hitsugaya?" the red-head said glancing at me from the corner of his eye. I just sat there, glaring at him.

"Renji, you didn't answer my questions!" Karin snapped and he turned his attention back to the scary girl in front of him. It was amusing to watch him back away from a girl who was so much shorter than him.**_ You're one odd person to call someone short,_** Hyorinmaru chuckled. _I'm taller than Karin! _I growled at him. **_Only by few centimeters! _**_I'm still taller!_

"Oh yeah, The Strawberry told me to bring you breakfast and wake you up. And I'm here since Inoue is having Ishida over and we can't sleep there for tonight", he said scratching the back of his head. Karin spun around to look at me.

"You can't sleep at Orihime's neither. Where are you gonna sleep?" she asked. I glanced meaningfully over her shoulder at Renji and her eyes widened as she realized what I meant. _Let's deal with one problem at a time._

"By the way, you didn't answer my question either. So _are _you and Captain Hitsugaya dating?" he asked making Karin's face turn red. _Is she angry at him or embarrassed? __**Ask her.**__ You know as well as I that she wouldn't answer._

"We're just friends", Karin answered after a bit uncomfortable silence. Renji raised his eyebrows, clearly not believing her.

"Then why were you sitting on his lap when I came in", he asked cocking his head with a grin on his face.

"Mostly because you didn't knock when you came in. What if I had been changing?" she snapped back, trying to distract his thoughts. _She has an excellent point! He just came into her room, not knowing whether she was sleeping or not! _**_Maybe he didn't care. _**_You seriously are one creepy sword!_

"Well you didn't knock the first time we met! And I was changing!" Renji said back glaring at Karin. She glared back even more furiously.

"It was my brother's room! I don't – or at least didn't- expect to meet strange half-naked men in my brother's room! And you weren't changing, you were just standing there in a towel!" she reminded him. **_Is it just me, or does their meeting sound very unusual? _**_It does, but I still don't need the image._

"Still, that doesn't explain why you were sitting in his lap. Now, either you tell me, or I'll tell your brother you're hiding a Shinigami captain in your room!" Renji threatened, but Karin just rolled her eyes.

"That's the most childish threat I've ever heard you say. And I'm not hiding anyone like Ichi-nii did with Rukia", she said smirking. _She's really good at avoiding answering. _**_She is, but why aren't you helping her? _**_I want to see how see explains it. And that is just their normal way of communications. If she gets really uncomfortable, I promise I'll help her._

"Karin, let's stop this, it's just stupid. Tell me the reason and I'll leave you two alone", Renji sighed, knowing he should stop the bickering. Karin raised one eyebrow.

"And you promise not to tell Ichi-nii that Toushiro is here?" she asked and Renji nodded quickly.

"Of course not! He's kick my ass first for not beating Captain Hitsugaya up!" he exclaimed and I glanced at Karin. She looked back cocking her head and I sighed. He was telling the truth, that idiot would do just as he said.

"If you want to know so much, we had agreed to practice the songs for the band and I forgot to put my alarm on last night before going to sleep. Toushiro just woke me up", Karin briefly explained. Judging by Renji's expression he wanted to know more, but as he saw my glare from the corner of his eye, he decided to leave it as it was. Plus, he might have noticed how the room started to get colder.

"Well, I guess I'm satisfied enough by that. Here's the breakfast. It's not enough for the two of you though", he said putting the tray he had still been holding down on Karin's desk, next to the computer.

"I ate at Inoue's before I came here. Just remember to keep your mouth shut Abarai", I said to Renji as he left the room with a final shrug.

"Thank God it was only him! I thought for a moment it was Ichi-nii", Karin said sweeping her forehead with the back of her hand. I shuddered at the thought of the intruder being Ichigo.

"I would have had to make a new shunpoing record to escape him!" I said and Karin started to laugh. She sat down at her desk and started to eat her breakfast (cornflakes with watermelon and apple juice).

"We could listen to the songs now! Wait a sec and I'll just turn on the computer", she said quickly spooning her breakfast to her mouth. She pressed the button she had told me was the one to put the machine on, and it started to buzz.

I rose from her bed and walked next to her, leaning on the desk. She turned to sit sideways on the chair so that she could talk to me easier while the computer started.

"Do you have a list of the songs anywhere? I mean, I could read it and check if I know any of them. I'll have to learn the songs fast, isn't the festival in three weeks?" I asked her.

"Oh, I have it somewhere. Wait a sec!" she said putting the bowl of corn flakes on the table and went to check her bag. While she looked away from me, I snatched few watermelon pieces from the bowl.

"Here it is!" she exclaimed brightly, holding a sheet of paper in her hand. She handed it to me and I briefly read it through.

"These all sound like love songs, or something like that", I said raiding an eyebrow as I looked up from the list. Karin smiled sheepishly as she continued to eat her breakfast.

"I wasn't the one who chose them. But hey, some of them are pretty good! Just hear them out", she said defensively. I shrugged.

"At least they are supposed to be easy to sing", I said. Karin put the now empty bowl down and took the glass from the table.

"They are! Don't worry; I'm sure you'll do fine. Hey, can you listen to the songs by yourself? I need to go to shower since I didn't go yesterday as I had planned to do", Karin said, quickly drinking the apple juice and almost slamming the glass back to table.

"Ops", she said and lifted it back to check if it was broken. She sighed in relief when she noticed it wasn't and gently put it back on the table. I merely chuckled at her.

"So, can you check the songs?" she asked again grabbing a towel from the back of the chair.

"Sure, I can use the computer perfectly, as you remember", I answered. **_You mostly suck at it_**_,_ Hyorinmaru snickered. Karin rolled her eyes, meaning she was thinking about the same as a certain dragon, in kinder words maybe.

* * *

**Karin's POV**

I left Toushiro to search for the songs from the net and headed to bathroom. _I hope he doesn't manage to download a virus to it…_

"Hey Karin, you going to shower?" I heard my brother ask and turned around to look at him raising my eyebrow.

"No, I just thought my towel wanted to go for a walk around the house. Why do you ask?" I said keeping a total poker face. Ichigo scowled a bit.

"Don't ask obvious questions if you don't like sarcastic answers", I said turning around to hide my smirk. It was really hard not to smirk when I teased someone.

"I asked 'cause I wanted to know if you already ate. I could take your bowl and glass down", he said and I almost panicked. _I can't let Ichigo go to my room, or he'll see Toushiro using my computer. I wonder what he would say. Probably he'd first be surprised Toushiro can use the computer, then try to go bankai at his ass._

"I-I-I haven't drank the juice yet! I thought I'd drink it after I've taken a shower", I said and scratched the back of my head, smiling widely. _I look so suspicious. Please, don't be sharp today! _

"Oh, that's fine. Just remember to bring it back down", he said and turned to go to his room, leaving me stand there, mouth hanging open. _Even he can't be that stupid!_

I decided it was better to warn Toushiro first, before I went to shower. I returned to my room and he turned to glance over his shoulder warily. Then he relaxed when he noticed it was just me.

"Didn't you go to take a shower? Why are you back already?" he asked. I quickly checked that the hallway was empty before I turned back to him. I saw that he had already managed to open Youtube on the computer.

"I just came to warn you. I met Ichi-nii in the hallway and he gave up on questioning me way too easily. He might come to check my room, so be ready to hide. And you'd better listen to those songs with these", I said handing him the headphones. He nodded and I was about the leave the room before turning again.

"Search for the songs with lyrics. You can start to learn them", I said and walked out closing the door behind me. I went to the bathroom and locked the door behind me. I stripped quickly and threw my clothes to the washing machine. It was almost full, so I picked few clothes with similar colors from the laundry basket and threw them in turning the machine on.

I walked to the shower and closet the curtain behind me. I turned the water on and almost screamed as ice cold water poured over me. I quickly jumped away from the water and adjusted the water temperature so that it was nice and warm.

I closed my eyes and let the warm water pour over me and relaxed. My black hair hung down on my back and I sighed deeply before opening my eyes and reaching for the shampoo. I turned the shower off for a while and poured some of the coconut scented cream on my hand and rubbed it into my hair. Soon my hair was one huge bubble mountain.

I turned the shower back on and washed the bubbled away from my hair. When I was sure that I had managed to get all of the shampoo from my hair, I turned the shower off again and drew the curtain aside. I walked to my towel and dried myself.

I the wrapped the towel around me and looked around. A sudden realization hit me. I had put my clothes in the washing machine, which was currently on. I checked if there were any my clothes in the laundry basket, but the only thing I found was a bright pink blue dotted overall that probably belonged to my dad.

_I'm just gonna have to ask Toushiro to leave when I change. Why didn't I think when I threw the clothes to the machine!_

I held the towel tighter and swallowed before opening the door and walking to the hall way, only to slam on Renji, who had just came from downstairs.

"Iäägh!" I screamed and almost let go of the towel when I fell to the floor. Renji stared at me, sitting on the floor, hair hanging wet in my shoulders, holding the towel as tightly as I was able.

"So we meet again like this. Though now the parts are reversed", Renji snickered at me. Unfortunately for him, my scream didn't go unheard. Ichigo's door was slammed open and both he and Rukia staring at us. The whole hallway was silent for about ten seconds as Ichigo and Rukia took in the scenery.

Then all hell broke loose.

"Renji. WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Ichigo screamed at the red-head. Renji's smirk was gone faster than you can say it and all his face turned completely white as he lifted his eyes to look at Ichigo. I was able to read the '_oh crap!' _in his eyes.

"Ichigo, chill", he said, his voice trembling with fear. Ichigo moved his hand to his Substitute Shinigami badge and hopped out of his body, staring at Renji eyes filled with rage. _He's in deep shit._

Renji left his gigai in record time.

One second Ichigo was staring at Renji, ready to murder him and the next second they were out of the window shunpoing farther and farther from our house. _Well, that's one way to get Ichi-nii out of the house so that we can practice._

Rukia just stood in the doorway, staring at the broken window (Renji didn't bother wasting time opening it, he just went through). Just then my door was opened and Toushiro looked around with concern deep in his eyes. He noticed me still sitting on the floor with just a towel around me and I could swear he blushed a bit.

"What happened here? I heard you scream and then your brother yell. Though I guess that all the neighbors heard the yell too", he said and stepped out of my room. Rukia's eyes widened as he spotted him and I saw her eyes glance from me to him and back before she smirked.

"You're here too, Captain Hitsugaya?" she asked in a sly voice. Toushiro froze and slowly turned to look at the petite girl. She waved at him.

"Oh, hi Kuchiki. I didn't notice you", he said to her and she smiled.

"You're here to visit Karin? I heard from Renji you're singing in your class's band. Is that the reason?" she asked politely and Toushiro cringed. He obviously didn't realize that Renji would tell anyone that he'll be singing.

"That's correct, and we'd appreciate if you didn't tell this to Ichigo, since he can get a bit over protective", he said watching her reaction carefully. She smiled wider and nodded.

"I think we just proved how overprotective he can get", she chuckled. I smirked a little. Toushiro looked from me to Rukia with a confused look.

"What on earth happened here?" he asked causing both me and Rukia start to laugh.

* * *

**Toushiro's POV**

After Rukia and Karin had finished telling me what happened I couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for Renji. _That was just pure accident and he's already being chased all across the country. _**_Imagine if it was you. _**_Ughh, I don't really want to,_ I shuddered.

But even though I pitied Renji, I was happy that we had gotten rid of the Ichigo-threat. Now it would be so much easier to practice the songs.

"Hey, does anyone want to help me up?" Karin asked and I realized she was still sitting on the floor.

"Here, take my hand", I said and offered her my hand. She grabbed it holding the towel up with her other hand. _Is that the shortest towel she owns? _**_You just wish it was shorter_**_**,**_ Hyorinmaru chuckled evilly. _I do not!_

The towel was pretty short, it didn't even reach mid-thigh, and it was pretty revealing from other places too. I felt my face turn red again and I had to look away, so that she wouldn't notice me staring at her. **_She looks pretty with her hair like that,_** Hyorinmaru noted and I turned back to look.

I noticed he was correct. The way her raven black hair hung from wet to her shoulders really highlighted her tan and made her eye color look even deeper. She noticed my stare and looked away with some red on her cheeks.

"Could you wait outside my room when I change?" she asked when I let her hand go. I stared at her for a while, my brain choosing a perfect time to work slowly.

"You know, I really can't change with you in the same room", she said rolling her eyes. I blushed as I realized what she meant. **_God, you're slow! I thought you were a prodigy! _**Hyorinmaru exclaimed._ Even prodigies have their bad days, _I defended myself**_.This ain't a bad day, this is a good day, _** the dragon chuckled.

Karin went to her room and closed the door in front of my face. I stared at the door, still feeling somewhat embarrassed as I heard Rukia chuckle. I had already completely forgotten about her.

"Seems like you enjoy spending time with Karin", she noted smiling kindly. Once again it was the same smile every single female seemed to smile to me when seeing me and Karin together.

"I do", I answered honestly. "She's funny, brave and just a completely different kind of person from anyone I've met up until now. She makes me laugh. She makes me feel happy and complete", I told her, and she just smiled wider. _Women are weird. _**_Or you're just dense. _**_What do you mean? You've said that before too.__** Yes, and I really hope you would finally realize what I mean.**_

Suddenly the door opened hitting me in the back of my head making me fall.**_ A captain surprised like that. _**_What? I wasn't expecting her to be so fast!_ Karin gasped worriedly and ran over to me.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't realize you were still standing in front of the door", she told quickly, kneeling down next to me. Her gentle hands rubbed the back of my head, and I winced as she found the spot the door had hit me.

I noticed she was now wearing black combat trousers and a green t-shirt with a black dragon on it. She had also managed to have time to pull her hair on a ponytail.

"You're going to have one hell of a bump and maybe a headache, but otherwise you'll be just fine", she said smiling as she withdrew her hands. She offered me a hand to help me up. I took it and she pulled me up.

"I think I'll go to make sure Ichigo won't kill Renji. You two play nice!" Rukia exclaimed and left her gigai, jumping out of the broken window.

"Shall we start practicing", I said to Karin, doing a bow and offering her my arm. She couldn't help but giggle as she took the arm.

"Why yes, that sounds like an excellent idea", she answered and I opened a door for her. Just as we were going to enter, she froze.

"Karin, what is it?" I asked. She glanced over her shoulder.

"I don't think we should leave those lying there", she said nodding towards the empty body of Ichigo and gigais of Renji and Rukia.

"You're right, someone might step on them", I said making her laugh.

"C'mon, let's just drag them to Ichi-nii's room", she said grabbing the legs of Rukia's gigai. I followed her dragging Renji's gigai by an arm and Ichigo's body by a leg. When I entered Ichigo's room, she was already lifting Rukia's gigai to Ichigo's bed.

"Can't we just leave them on the floor?" I asked her. I really didn't feel like putting Ichigo's body in a comfortable position.

"No, we can't. Yuzu would have a heart attack if she came in and found them lying like dead people", Karin answered and grabbed Ichigo's arms to lift him on the bed. I helped her and we tried to make the two lovers look like they had fallen asleep while cuddling.

I lifted Renji's gigai to the closet and closed the door. As I turned around I saw Karin scribbling on Ichigo's face with a magic marker.

"Karin?" I asked sweatdropping. She turned to look at me with a huge grin on her face.

"C'mon, try it. It's so fun!" she exclaimed drawing a perfect Hercule Poirot mustache on his face. I shrugged and joined her.

After five minutes we finally had finished "the make-over" of Ichigo. He now had also a small whisker, spirals on both cheeks, really dark eyebrows and nose full of blackheads. On his forehead was text 'The Mighty Strawberry'.

Both me and Karin giggled like crazy when we took a step back to admire our work.

"We should really start to practice soon", I sighed as my abs hurt because of so much laughing. I don't that has never happened to me before.

Suddenly I noticed a calendar on Ichigo's wall. There was a note 'Yuzu and Karin 16' on the sixth of May. _Hey, what day is it today? __**Saturday. **__You know very well what I meant! _**_You're no fun… Let me think. Today's the fifth of May. _**_Her birthday is tomorrow!_

"Toushiro, are you okay? You looked like you got scared of something", Karin said, her face right in front of mine. I tried to smile reassuringly.

"No worries. I just thought of something", I told her and she cocked her head confused.

"Nothing you should bother your little brain about", I said ruffling her hair like she often did to me.

"Are you saying I'm not smart?" Karin asked quickly, squinting her eyes.

"Of course not! You're really smart, sometimes you just don't use your head", I said and she stared at me for a while before shrugging.

"Well, let's go to sing!" she laughed and ran to her room. I was just behind her.

Karin was right when she had told me the songs were easy. We spent about two hours singing the songs from the list, and soon I knew at least the chorus of each song. Most of the songs were danceable, fast with a steady beat, but there were some slower songs too. The last song was one of my favorites.

I also noticed Karin was really good at playing guitar. She didn't even have to look at her fingers as she moved them from one position to another, and she was able to sing while playing. _She has a beautiful singing voice._

Just as we had finished the list for the fourth time (first of course we sang the same song repeatedly, so that I'd learn the lyrics) we felt Ichigo's reiatsu coming closer.

"You could hide in the closet", Karin suggested quietly when I started to climb out of the window. I turned to smile at her.

"I'll just go out for a couple of hours. I was planning to ask you earlier if you would let me sleep in your closet since I can't go to sleep to Inoue's", I said and Karin's face brightened.

"Of course you can sleep in the closet! It would be so nice. It has been some time since I last had a friend staying overnight", she said excitedly. I smiled. _She agreed just like that. And I had been nervous about would she let me stay or not. _**_You know her well, but you still don't know her almost at all. _**_Your wisdoms start to get a little confusing._

"I'll go to kill a couple of Hollows", I said and shunpoed out of the window. _Now the real problem. What on earth should I get her? She has a million soccer balls, she doesn't wear jewelry or make-up and a stuffed animal would be just too childish._

I thought the whole time as I patrolled around the town. Finally I came up with a good idea.

* * *

**Karin's POV**

I watched Toushiro shunpo out of my window and cheered inwardly. My biggest (and only real) crush was going to stay overnight and tomorrow would be my birthday. This seemed too good to be true.

Somehow, always when I think that, something not good is bound to come up.

This time the reason was Ichigo.

"KARIN! WHY DO I HAVE MAGIC MARKER ON MY FACE?" Ichigo yelled from his room and I winced. _I forgot about that. Well, here goes, _I thought as he flung my door open.

When I looked at his face, I couldn't help but start laughing, and judging by the sounds coming from his room, I wasn't the only one with that problem.

"Would you like to explain? NOW?" Ichigo growled. Rukia and Renji both had now managed to get to the doorway, and were worriedly glancing at me. I just stared at Ichigo calmly.

"It's a punishment for attacking Renji", I said, managing to stifle my giggles. He's anger was replaced by confusement.

"He attacked you first!" he said in a high pitched voice because he couldn't believe what I said.

"No he didn't!" "No I didn't!" Me and Renji exclaimed together.

"We just bumped into each other, nothing more. I hope he didn't beat you up badly", I said to Renji over Ichigo's shoulder.

"Nah, he didn't have time. I went to Urahara's and that's a man who has experience about taming Ichigo", Renji chuckled and I laughed too.

"Great, now that this is all clear, would you mind to leave? I need to practice for our band", I said grabbing my guitar from my bed. Ichigo glared at me, but I ignored him, starting to play the first song that came into my mind.

"_Humanity is rising_

_Barometer is getting low_

_According to all sources_

_The street is the place to go_

'_Cause tonight for the first time_

_Just about half past ten_

_For the first time in history_

_It's gonna start raining men", _I sung and heard Renji start to laugh uncontrollably and I smirked.

The Shinigami group left my room and I started to think. _I wish Toushiro would be back soon. I really want to hang out with him. He's the only person who really can see straight to my soul._

_He's always so kind to me, so caring, always worrying over me. But still he doesn't overdo it. He understands I need to fight. He understands I don't want to be damsel in distress. _

_And when he's around I can't help but to feel happy. I feel warm when he's here._

_God, I think I love him._

_

* * *

  
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**Toushiro's POV**

As I returned the Kurosaki clinic, everything seemed to have calmed down. I felt Ichigo's, Rukia's and Renji's reiatsus in Ichigo's room, heard Yuzu humming in the kitchen as she cooked something and also heard moving from the clinic side, suggesting that their father was working.

I also saw Karin sitting on the edge of her window, eyes closed, enjoying the warm air. I stopped in the air in front of her, waiting for her to open her eyes.

Almost immediately she opened her eyes and smiled at me. She moved away from the window and made room for me to enter.

"Had fun with beating up Hollows?" she asked sitting on the bed. I sat next to her, leaning on the wall, hands behind my head.

"Well, you could say so", I said smiling. She glanced at me questioning, but I just shrugged.

"How were things in here? Ichigo still angry?" I asked looking at her. She leaned against the wall too and shook her head.

"He can't stay angry at me for a long time. He liked me too much", she smirked. I chuckled. _This feels nice. Just relaxing together._

"Toushiro, could I ask another one of those favors you owe me now?" Karin asked suddenly sitting up. I opened my eyes and sat up next to her.

"Sure, what do you want?" I asked interested. _What could have she thought about now?_

"Could you stay more nights here? I would like to have you close more often. You wouldn't need to move here, just like stay over every now and then", she asked staring at her hands. My eyes widened in surprise, but I started smiling the same time.

"That's a really good idea. It would be fun to spent time with you", I answered. She turned around to look at me and smiled widely. Suddenly she tackled me into a hug.

"Thank you, Toushiro", she whispered and I smiled wrapping my arms around her.

"No problem", I whispered back.

* * *

**Karin's POV, next morning**

I woke up to my father and my brother singing at me. It was a tradition in our family, to wake the birthday girls or boy up by singing "Happy Birthday".

I opened my eyes and sat up, stretching my arms.

"Happy birthday Karin!" Ichigo smirked and threw me a little box. I almost dropped it (blaming my drowsiness for it) and opened it.

"Wow, thanks Ichi-nii!" I exclaimed as I saw a familiar CD-cover. It was the Numb Encore by Linkin Park. Ichigo knew I had been searching for it and had apparently found it.

"Happy birthday, my darling Karin! You're already sixteen! How did you grow up so fast? Masaki, our daughter is almost adult now!" he cried and I just smiled. This was the one day when my dad never pissed me off.

"Here you go darling daughter", he said and gave me a soft packet. With a little hesitation I opened it and smiled brightly at what I saw. It was the official jersey of Japan's international soccer team (women fit).

"Thanks dad, it's amazing!" I grinned.

"We'll go to wake Yuzu up, then you'll get your birthday breakfast", Ichigo smiled and the two men left my room. I jumped out of my bed and practically ran to the throwing the door open.

"What's the hurry Karin?" Toushiro smirked lying on a futon in the closet. He had already changed back into his kimono (he didn't sleep wearing, I had seen him last evening before he went to bed. He had been wearing just pajama shorts, and I got a good look of his abs).

"Just checked you still were there", I said smiling. "Sorry, but you have to stay there for another while, I'll change", I said closing the door again. I heard Toushiro chuckle.

I put on my denim shorts and my new jersey, leaving my hair open. Then I opened the closet again. Toushiro jumped out and smiled at me.

"Happy birthday", he said and hugged me. I smiled even brighter. Just then I heard a yell from downstairs.

"Sorry, I have to go now. We have our birthday traditions at morning, so the rest of the day will be free. Just wait for a while", I said and hurried downstairs. Dad and Ichigo had already set the table ready (though I knew all of the food was made by Yuzu) and Yuzu was sitting in her place wearing a pink crown.

I sat on my place and Ichigo placed a blue crown on my head. Then he and dad sat down too, and we started to eat the huge piles of birthday snacks. The breakfast went by quickly, we just laughed and ate and chatted. It wasn't anything big, but I always loved our birthday traditions.

After breakfast dad had to leave to the clinic. Neither I nor Yuzu minded. I had Toushiro waiting in my room and Yuzu had already planned to go shopping with Midori.

"Yuzu, don't forget this", I said to her and threw a packet at her. She caught it and opened it.

"What is this?" she asked and lifted a card from the packet. As she read it her eyes started to shine with tears.

"Karin, you're the best!" she screamed and ran to hug me. I smiled widely. I had known from the start she'd love the gift. In the packet was only a red collar with a bell and a card. But the card was the key to the present. It said:

'There's a little kitty waiting for you in the animal rescue center. She's eager to meet you, so please come soon'

"Now I feel like my gift isn't good at all", she said sounding a little sad. I wrapped my hand around her shoulder.

"It would be fine if you didn't get me anything. You are the biggest gift to me", I said and she smiled gratefully.

"I still got you something", she smiled and handed the little packet to me. I opened it and gasped. It was a frame holding three pictures. In the left one were me and Yuzu as little kids and in the right were us now. The newer picture was taken about a month ago when we went to the park.

The middle picture was a picture of our whole family together. Me and Yuzu sitting on the grass, Ichigo hugging our heads together from the back and mum and dad sitting behind him, laughing. I felt tears stinging in my eyes.

"Yuzu", I whispered and looked at her. She was smiling at me.

"Thank you", I said and pulled her into a tight hug.

"You're welcome", she said.

* * *

**Toushiro's POV**

I sat on the edge of the window, staring outside, as I waited for Karin to come back. I heard the laughter from downstairs. _They're having so much fun, _I thought a bit sadly. I didn't have any traditions with Matsumoto and Momo, just occasionally we celebrated someone's birthday.

The sound of the door opening awaked me from my thoughts. I turned my head to look at Karin. She was holding a photo frame against her chest, smiling widely.

"Hi Toushiro. Look what Yuzu gave me", she said and showed the pictures. _She was a cute baby. _**_How about now? Do you think she's cute now? _**Hyorinmaru asked immediately. I glanced at her. _Yeah, yes she is._

**_Do you remember what you said Rukia. I mean about her? _**Hyorinmaru asked. I recalled the moment.

_*Flashback*_

"_Seems like you enjoy spending time with Karin", she noted smiling kindly. Once again it was the same smile every single female seemed to smile to me when seeing me and Karin together. _

"_I do", I answered honestly. "She's funny, brave and just a completely different kind of person from anyone I've met up until now. She makes me laugh. She makes me feel happy and complete", I told her, and she just smiled wider._

_*End of Flashback*_

_I remember. What about it? _Hyorinmaru snorted annoyedly. **_Now tell me about her, how she makes you feel, how you feel about her! _**he commanded.

_She's the most extraordinary girl I've ever met. She is crazy, funny, brave and loving. She loves her family and would do anything for them. When she's around I feel… lighter, better. I feel whole, completely. She's a very dear friend to me and I couldn't stand losing her,_ I told the dragon.

_Like she once said, it feels like our souls match. _**_Tell me how do you feel,_** Hyorinmaru said, maybe a bit gently.

_I think I might love her._

I stared at the raven haired girl smiling in front of me and decided I'd want to find the perfect, special, time to give my present to her, so she might realize how much she meant for me. She just stared back at me with her dark blue eyes.

"Let's not sit inside today. Let's go somewhere", I said suddenly. Karin raised her eyebrow.

"Like where?" she asked smiling putting the frame on her desk. I thought for a moment.

"Let's go to the park", I said. She agreed immediately. Then she stopped.

"You're not in your gigai", she noted. I remembered she was right.

"But you can still see me. We can just walk around, or sit somewhere away from people and talk. That way it doesn't really matter. Plus, I could carry you to the park shunpoing. How about that?" I suggested.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go already!" she got excited and climbed to my lap. I got startled by her sudden actions, but then just lifted her to my arms.

"Hold on", I whispered to her, holding her closer to my chest than I usually did. Then I shunpoed towards the park.

The park wasn't as full as I had expected so it was easy to walk around. And Karin said that she liked the fact that now people wouldn't think she was crazy for talking to herself.

"Toushiro, look! A photo booth! Let's go to take pictures" Karin said pointing at the machine excited.

"I haven't ever used these before", I told her. She looked surprised at first, but then probably realized we didn't have photo booths in Soul Society.

"It's easy and fun. Just pick a frame, put coins in, and then make a pose. The camera will take four pictures every tenth second", she explained and selected the most normal frame. I didn't say it, but I was really glad she wasn't one of those over flowery girls. There was a really scary over flowery frame.

"Now, her ready! Smile!" she told smiling and glanced at me. I was still too confused to smile at the camera, so she pulled the corners of my mouth up with her finger.

"I said 'smile'", she laughed and the camera clicked with a huge flash. She let go of mouth and doubled over with laughter.

"That'll be a great pic", she laughed and I joined her. She lifted her head almost hitting me with the back of her head. For once my reflexes worked and I avoided the hit, but it caused me to almost fall of the bench.

Karin reached after me and caught my arm pulling me back. I wasn't able to regain my balance, so I fell on her. She was lying on her back on the bench and I was leaning over me as the camera flashed for a second time.

We both blushed deep red when we realized what the photo would look like. Still we weren't able to move, we just stared at each other's eyes.

Suddenly someone bumped on the photo booth; making the arm I had put my weight on move causing me to lose balance. I fell completely on top of her, lips landing on hers as the third flash lighted the booth.

I quickly sat up and helped her sit up too. We were both completely silent, just stared in each other's eyes trying to read the other thoughts.

"Toushiro, I have the final thing for you to do. Kiss me", Karin whispered and I just couldn't believe my eyes. It felt like time froze. I stared at her eyes, searching for a sign, even the smallest, that she was kidding. When I saw nothing, I gently put my hands on her cheeks and pulled her face closer.

I stopped when our lips were only inches apart. I could taste her breath on my lips. She was staring in my eyes hands on tights, leaning towards me, but still not pushing.

"Karin", I whispered and placed my lips gently on hers. She moved her hands around my neck and closed her eyes, moving her lips together with mine. I moved my hands to her waist and pulled her to sit on my lap. I tasted the sweet raspberry on her lips. I noticed the camera flashed for the final time, but I didn't care.

Finally, we had to break away for air. She stared into my eyes, panting a little. I held her close to me and smiled at her.

"Toushiro", she answered to my hearts call. _Thanks Hyorinmaru._

* * *

**Outside**

Just outside the photo booth, Matsumoto had pressed her ear against the booth to listen what Karin and Toushiro were talking about.

When she heard Karin say 'Kiss me', she wanted to do a touchdown dance. She settled for a quiet "Yes!" under her breath. She had been watching how her little captain acted with Karin for a long time and decided that they needed a gentle push to tell how they felt for each other. The push was a bit literal, but it didn't matter since it had worked.

Before the couple exited from the photo booth, Matsumoto disappeared to watch from a safe distance.

* * *

**Karin's POV**

I was in heaven when we left the photo booth. I was so caught up in my own world that I almost forgot the photos, but thankfully Toushiro remembered to take them.

"These photos must be kept away from your brother", he chuckled as he checked them. I looked at them too. The first one was funny, second awkward, third made me really happy and I just loved the last.

"You're right, I'll keep mine in a safe place", I smiled as we walked around the park. We had thankfully remembered to took two sets of the photos, so we both had our own ones. I bought us hot dogs (since the saleslady wouldn't have seen Toushiro) and we ate them while walking.

"Toushiro, do people see a hot dog disappear into thin air as you eat it, or can't they see it at all?" I wondered. He looked at me and laughed.

"They lose the sight of it at the moment I take it to my hand. Someone would have already screamed if it was just slowly disappearing", he said and I laughed with him.

We walked to a railing where we had an amazing view to the sky. We just sat there and watched the sky, talking about everything. Toushiro was sitting on the grass and I was next to him, leaning on his side. We talked for hours and I completely forgot how the time ran. Soon the sun started to set.

"Maybe it's time for us to go", Toushiro said as the final rays of sun disappeared to the horizon. I nodded and picked me up from the grass.

"Let's get ready to shunpo", he laughed and I wrapped my arms around his neck leaning on his chest.

As we neared home I was able to sense Renji, Rukia and Ichigo in Ichigo's room. Yuzu's reiatsu wasn't at home, but she had said she might stay at Midori's.

"Let's stay out for a little while longer", Toushiro said and landed on the roof. I looked around.

"Wow, I've never realized how great the view is from here!" I exclaimed and sat on the roof. Toushiro smiled and sat next to me. For a moment we were both silent, until Toushiro spoke up.

"Karin, you have no idea how glad I'm that I made the bet with you. Otherwise we maybe wouldn't have grown so close", he said staring at the sky. I followed his gaze and smiled.

"No, we would have one way or other. Didn't I tell you that our souls match? Matching souls can't stay apart when so close to each other", I told. "That's something my mum had told me when I was little. She said that her mum had told her that, and she had understood it when she met dad. She told I would understand it one day too." I turned to look at him.

"I think I understand it now", I said. He looked back at me, with his wonderful eyes. Then he smiled.

"I guess you're right. We would have met anyway and this also would have happened in time", he said and leaned closer to capture my lips. The kiss was more passionate than the first, and I didn't ever want to part. His lips tasted like vanilla.

"I never got a chance to give you your present", he said as we had to break up for air. He dug a little packet from his kimono.

"Happy birthday Karin", he whispered passionately and smiled a little.

"Thank you", I said and opened the packet without breaking eye contact with him. When it was open I looked at what was inside it.

"Toushiro", I whispered. "They're beautiful", I said lifting the two white satin ribbons from the little box.

"I thought they'd go well with your hair", he said blushing a bit. "Sorry that it's nothing big."

"It is something big! It's something _you _bought for _me_", I said. "Thank you so much", I continued and hugged him.

"You're welcome", he said back. We sat there for a moment and a shooting star flew across the sky.

* * *

_If perchance I could have become a comet_

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_

**Thank you so very much for reading. And sorry that I'll have to move the band thing with one chapter. I was going to make the band thing today, but then I found out that Karin's birthday was 6****th**** of May and this little inspiration struck me. **

**The song Karin sung was It's Raining Men by Geri Halliwell**

**And 'cause the band thing isn't ready yet, I'm still open to song suggestions.**

**Good night you readers! (It's 2.11a.m. here and I just had to write this part)**


	10. Grimmjow is Back!

**Chapter 10 is here. Way to go me! Please enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach**

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* * *

  
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**Toushiro's POV**

After I gave Karin her birthday present we stayed at the roof for some time to look at the stars. Karin managed to fall asleep during that time. I noticed it only when she almost fell from the roof.

"You need to choose your sleeping places better. It's not safe to sleep on a roof", I said to her moving her to sit on my lap, head leaning on my chest. She didn't answer, just breathed silently. I sighed and smiled moving the black strands away from her face.

"Sleep well, beautiful", I whispered and kissed her forehead. Her lips tugged upwards a bit. She was still holding the ribbons in her hand.

"It's getting a bit chilly. Maybe we'd better move inside", I said and lifted her to my arms. I quietly jumped down from the roof and climbed in from the window of her room.

I gently laid her on her bed and sat down on the bed next to her head. I took a strand of her black hair to between my fingers and played with it. She moved her hand and grabbed my haori lightly.

"I think I'll go to sleep to", I said and kissed the strand in my hand starting to move away. Her grip on my haori tightened and for a second I thought she had woken up. I turned to look at her and realized she was still asleep.

I thought for a moment, before I slide the haori of my shoulders and put it over her. She cuddled it and relaxed even more. I just had to smile.

As I was climbing to the closet to sleep, the door was slightly opened and Rukia peeked inside. She spotted me wearing only my pants (**A.N. I don't remember what that part of the Shinigami uniform is called**) and Karin lying on her bed with my haori as a blanket. She glanced between us few times before she smiled and closed the door silently, not to wake Karin up.

_It doesn't seem like she'll say anything to Ichigo. _**_Why is that? She is his girlfriend. _**_Yes, but women seem to enjoy watching me and Karin together, plus she knows Ichigo would go crazy. _

"Good night Karin", I said glancing back at her sleeping on the bed before closing the closet door.

* * *

**Ichigo's room**

"Where could she be? I haven't seen her since morning!" Ichigo said walking around his room and every few seconds glancing out of the window. Renji and Kon sat on his bed, just staring at him stress.

"Ichigo, don't you think you're overdoing it a bit? I mean she's a smart girl and already 16. She can take care of herself", Renji said, knowing perfectly well that she was with Toushiro. Matsumoto had informed him and Rukia the second their relationship was certain, in order to keep Ichigo away and to be watching Karin and Toushiro.

"A Hollow could have attacked! Or she could have attacked a Hollow!" he said putting his head out from the window the check if Karin was walking on the street.

"Then we would have felt her reiatsu. Or at least Rukia would have. She probably is just playing soccer with her friends", he said pulling Ichigo back from the window when he leaned so far he almost fell.

"Man, you're stressing way too much!" he said getting almost angry with his friend. Then again, he was just worried about his sister, so he just couldn't get mad about that.

Ichigo turned to look at Renji and opened his mouth to say something, but continued his spin as he heard the door open. Rukia opened the door and stared at Ichigo (mouth still open, ready to say something his brain already forgot) and Renji who was staring at her questioning.

"You can relax; you've just missed her when she came home. She's already sleeping", she said walking to sit next to Renji on the bed. Kon tried to climb to her lap but she 'gently moved' him away. Meaning threw him at Ichigo's face.

"She is? That's good. She should have said 'hi' to me when she came back, I wouldn't have stressed so much", Ichigo said throwing Kon back to Rukia and sat down on his chair.

Rukia pulled her phone out of her pocket and started to write a message to Matsumoto.

_They've come back already went to sleep. Captain Hitsugaya has turned out to be a really nice to Karin, he had covered her with his haori and she was cuddling it when she was sleeping. Tomorrow it will be your turn to watch them._

She closed her phone and smirked at Renji. _Why am I part of the Hitsugaya and Karin watch again? _he wondered.

* * *

**Next morning, Karin's POV**

I slowly woke up next morning inhaling the oddly familiar scent. Odd, because it wasn't something I usually smelled the first thing at morning and familiar because it was Toushiro. I opened my eyes and realized I was cuddling his haori.

I blinked a few times, but the haori didn't disappear. _Why do I have his haori? _I wondered and started to recall the events of the previous day, a smile slowly forming on my face.

I sat up and hugged his haori tightly. I realized I was holding something else in my hand. _The ribbons! I hope they aren't crumbled!_ I thought and opened my fist. The two ribbons were still perfectly smooth.

I got up from the bed realizing I was still wearing the same clothes as I had the previous day. _Hey, wait a sec? When did I get to my bed? I only remember sitting on the roof with Toushiro and then… waking up. I must've fallen asleep on the roof!_

I opened my closet to see Toushiro still sleeping. His expression was calm, not a single wrinkle on his forehead. His mouth was slightly open as he breathed silently.

I smiled and closet the door quietly. I opened the other closet door, revealing my clothes. As I often did, I just pulled out few articles of clothing I thought would look good enough on my standards and be comfy. I ended up taking black shorts and a white t-shirt with the text "Drink Coffee! Do Stupid Things Faster With More Energy" on it. Yuzu had given it to me last Christmas.

I looked at the ribbons in my hands. _I usually only use one, but I think I want to put both of these today, _I decided and split my hair into two equally big sections on either side of my head. Then I just tied the ribbons to my hair and checked the result from the mirror.

**(A.N. I really don't know how to explain what the hairstyle looks like, kinda like two low pigtails so that the ribbons are tied so that they're lower than her face. Hey, I think I just managed to explain it understandably!)**

I decided I looked a bit more mature than I usually did.

With a quick glance on the clock (it was 10.32) I decided it was time for Toushiro to wake up. I opened the closet and almost made *aww* sound as I watched him sleep. Key word being 'almost'.

I stroked his cheek gently and moved my face closer to his. He stirred a bit, but didn't wake up. I breathed on his neck and he stirred again.

"Toushiro, it's time to wake up", I said and poked his nose. He blinked a few times drowsily before focusing his gaze on my eyes. He yawned a bit and smiled.

"Morning Karin. Did you sleep well?" he asked and sat up. I lifted my head from the mattress to look him in the eyes.

"I did, I had a really good dream, thanks for asking", I answered and leaned on the closet as Toushiro swung his legs out of the closet and stretched his arms above his head. My eyes travelled across his body, from his abs to the well toned chest and from there to his face. I blushed as I realized he had been watching me and was smirking a little raising his eyebrow.

"Like what you see?" he asked and grabbed my wrist causing me to collide with his chest. He had my other hand still on his grip holding it next to us. My other hand I had instinctively thrown in front of me and it was leaning against his chest. I concentrated on making my heart slow down.

"Yes, I in fact do like it", I said grinning back to him. He stood up; still holding me close to him, making our few centimeter height difference clearer than it usually was, and leaned to whisper to my ear.

"That's good, 'cause I do too", he said and kissed my cheek before letting go of me. I smiled at him and also chuckled at his appearance. I had never seen him this messy. His hair was sticking into every possible direction (even more than usually), his eyes were still sleepy and he was overall confused, searching for his kimono's upper part. (**A.N. I still don't remember the names of the parts of the shihakushou**)

"Karin, have you seen my-?" "On the chair", I answered before he was able to finish his question. He turned around and his face brightened as he noticed the black cloth on the chair. He picked it up and put his arms trough the sleeves, leaving the front open.

"How did you know what I was going to ask?" he asked and sat on the bed, covering his yawn with his hand. I raised my eyebrow smiling a little.

"You have a slowly waking brain", I chuckled and he grinned sheepishly. "It was quite obvious. Usually the first thing to do in the morning is to dress and you still had only the pants. Plus you were looking around", I explained smirking.

"And you still need this", I said and handed his haori back to him. This time it was he who smirked.

"Yeah, you were a little reluctant to let it go while sleeping, so I figured I'd let you have it as something to cuddle. I hope you haven't gotten drool all over it", he said chuckling.

"Hey, that's mean!" I said and slapped his arm. He just started laughing.

"The ribbons really do go well with your hair. I'm glad", he said taking a strand of my hair in his hand. I smiled.

"Yeah, thanks again. I really like them", I said and kissed his cheek. There was a knock on my door and I quickly pulled Toushiro from the bed and pushed him into my closet.

"Come in", I yelled and closed the closet door. Yuzu opened the door and peeked inside.

"You're already home? I thought you'd stay at Midori's longer", I said surprised. She smiled.

"Her family went to visit their grandma, so I came home. Dad said you haven't eaten breakfast yet, so I came to check if you're awake. I brought you breakfast, a sandwich and strawberry juice", she told handing me the plate and glass.

"Oh, okay. Did you two have fun?" I asked and Yuzu started to explain excitedly how they had gone shopping, watched horror movies and stayed up almost the whole night.

"Then today we picked up Grimmjow!" she exclaimed and I almost choked on air. _Wasn't Grimmjow an Espada Ichigo defeated?! Wh-why-what?_ I was totally confused. I heard how Toushiro moved in the closet; probably he heard the name too.

"Who? How do you know him?" I asked carefully. _She can't mean the same Grimmjow I'm thinking about. But how many Grimmjows there are? _Yuzu smiled and picked a small basket from the hallway. She had most likely put it down when she knocked on the door.

"This is Grimmjow! Isn't he cute? And I know the name is odd, but somehow that name came to my mind when I saw him", she said excitedly and lifted a small kitten from the basket. He was almost completely white, except he had longer blue fur in the back of his neck and in the tips of his ears. He had amazing blue eyes, under which was also a bit of blue fur.

"Wow, he's… different", I said examining the little kitten. He looked exactly like Ichigo had described Grimmjow to be, except he was a little kitten. He mewled a bit and Yuzu cradled him in her arms. She started to stroke his fur and he purred a little.

"I guess he's cute. I just expected you to pick a little more usual colored kitten", I said sweatdropping a bit. Yuzu looked at him and he looked like he was smiling at her. His tail was swaying from side to side.

"C'mon, hold Grimmy a bit!" she said handing him to me. I put the sandwich on my table on took him into my arms. He mewled in discomfort and I moved him into a better position and stroked him a bit. He started to purr again._ I guess he's okay. If he's the same Grimmjow, he doesn't seem to be dangerous. He's quite cute and adorable._

"What did you do while I was gone? I hope you didn't sit alone at home", she asked me and I smirked.

"Do I ever sit alone at home? No, I was out walking in the park", I answered and she smirked. _She knows how to smirk?!_

"With who? Let me guess, you were with Toushiro!" she said raising an eyebrow still smirking widely. My eyes widened. _How does she know? She couldn't have seen us, or if she saw us, she saw just me. Toushiro was in his Shinigami form the whole day._

"I knew it! You were smiling so happily it couldn't have been anyone else!" she exclaimed seeing my expression. I was completely amazed by her skills of reading me.

"You're right, I was with him. You must be a psychic", I said shaking my head taking a sip of the juice.

"Not at all, you're just easy to read. Karin, I know you love him", she said kindly and I choked on the juice. Grimmjow mewled annoyed as he got some juice on his fur and started to lick the spot. _That's scary, seems like she knew that before me. But Toushiro is still in my closet!_

"Yu-Yuzu", I tried to say something trough my coughing, but my brain wasn't able to form a coherent sentence. Yuzu giggled.

"Are those ribbons from him? They look good on you", she said nodding towards my pigtails. I lifted my hand to touch one of the white ribbons.

"Yup, how did you guess?" I asked. It might have been obvious to some people, like my twin, but I didn't understand how she was always able to know everything about me.

"It's pretty easy to know. First off, I've never seen those ribbons before, so you most probably got them yesterday. Secondly, you never wear your hair on pigtails, so the one who gave them to you had to be special. And third, I've seen the way he looks at you. You should treasure those, I'm sure he must have thought a lot about your present, and when someone does so it comes from the heart", she smiled.

I stared at my twin. She always said I was the brighter one of us, but I knew she was bright too, in a different way. She had always been able to read people, and tell just the words they needed to hear, or explain how someone felt about something.

"They're one of the best presents I've ever got", I smiled. Yuzu nodded happily.

"That's good. Now eat your breakfast and go to see him!" she commanded and left the room whistling cheerfully. "And look after Grimmjow; I'm going to the shop!"

"I will, but the order I'll do those things will be the opposite", I whispered after her and opened the closet door revealing Toushiro, who was looking at me with a happy smile.

"Your sister is quite sharp. I know I'd be so dead if your brother was the same kind", he chuckled swinging his legs out of the closet. I leaned on the closed door next to him.

"She knows how people feel by just glancing at them. Hey, she knew how I felt before I did!" I exclaimed and took a bite of my sandwich. Toushiro glanced at me from the corner of his eyes.

"So I'm not just some high school crush to you?" he asked and I turned my whole torso towards him.

"No! You're much more. You're the closest friend I've ever had and you hold a place in my heart. I think she's right when she says I love you", I exclaimed staring at him wide eyed. He smiled and pulled my face closer.

"I think I love you too", he said and rubbed our noses together. Then he quickly kissed me. Then he looked at the kitten in my arms.

"That kitten your sister got… He looks really much like Grimmjow. I mean the Espada one", he said looking at the white kitten like it was about to grow huge fangs.

"But Ichi-nii beat him! So maybe he died and was reborn as a kitty! Don't tease the kitty", I said defending the poor, defenseless creature in my arms. If he had been a terrifying Espada in his previous life (if I was correct, that is) he was now a kitten. Toushiro looked thoughtful.

"You know what Karin? I think that is possible. If he died and was reborn, he shouldn't have any memories of trying to kill Ichigo and everyone else, so he should be harmless. If that is the same Grimmjow. It's scary she named him by the same name", he said shaking his head.

"But Grimmy can't be dangerous like this! He's a kitten for God's sake!" I laughed and lifted Grimmjow in front of Toushiro's face. He started to poke Toushiro's locks which were hanging in front of his face. Toushiro started at the kitten and I was able to see the 'you got to be kidding me' expression cross his face.

I stared laugh even more. Grimmjow turned to look at me and mewled. I brought him close to my face and cuddled him. He purred loudly.

"Now, stretch your legs a bit", I said to the kitten and put it down on the floor. He started to wander around my room. I turned to Toushiro.

"What should we do now?" I asked-

"Now you listen to your sister's advice and eat your breakfast! Then we go to Orihime's to pick my gigai so that we can go play soccer", he said and kissed his nose.

"Of course, and the soccer sounds like a perfect idea. It had been so long since we played last time", I said and took another bite of the sandwich still I had picked from my table as I put Grimmjow on the floor.

"We played last time on Wednesday. It was four days ago, it's not that that long", he said and I thought for a second before agreeing with him in my mind.

"It is a long time to not play soccer! At least to me, I don't know about you. I have heard that when you're older, time goes faster. Oh, I just realized my boyfriend is decades older than me. It would be really creepy if you weren't a Shinigami", I said chuckling. He rolled his eyes.

"Not to mention if I wasn't a Shinigami, I'd be just a soul. But remember your brother and Rukia. She's almost ten times older than he is, and they're still really happy", he said nodding his head towards the wall between my room and Ichigo's.

"Great, I'm dating a dead guy", I rolled my eyes, smirking. "And I've noticed that, I just meant that you're older and I don't mind", I continued my smirk turning into a smile.

"That's good to hear", he smiled and jumped out of the closet. "You've eaten? Good, let's go."

I was waiting for him to lift me to his arms again, but he shook his head and opened my door for me.

"It's better if you use your door sometimes, not always the window. Plus, you have to do something to Grimmjow, Yuzu told you to look after him", he said and I realized he was right. It might seem odd to my family if I always just vanished from my room, and also appeared without them seeing me use the front door. And Yuzu would be angry if I left Grimmjow by himself after she told me to look after him.

"I'll pick you up outside", he said jumping out off the window. I sighed and walked to the hallway. And once again bumped into Renji.

"Oh, hi Karin. And happy birthday, though I'm a day late. For once we bump into each other while both of us are wearing clothes", he said grinning madly. I couldn't help but laugh.

"You're right. I didn't know you were still here, I thought you were able to go back to Orihime's yesterday", I said glancing at him. He shrugged.

"I know, but I was too tired. I'm going back there today, the Strawberry wants to have his alone time with Rukia", Renji said glancing at me meaningfully. I shuddered blushing a bit, and glared at him.

"Didn't I tell you, I don't want to think about it", I said trying my hardest to make the image of my brother making out with Rukia on his bed.

"No, don't think you did", Renji said looking thoughtful.

"Well, at least I thought of that", I shrugged and Renji laughed.

"Oh, why do you have a kitten in your arms? He looks oddly familiar", Renji said kneeling down to the kitten. He mewled and tapped the cloth on his forehead with his paws.

"He's Yuzu's new kitten. And I'm going to ask Ichi-nii to watch him. When I introduce him to Ichi-nii, make sure he won't attack", I said to Renji. He started at me confused.

"Just follow me", I sighed and lead him into Ichigo's room. I opened the door without knocking. Ichigo and Rukia were sitting on the floor, examining the map of Karakura town.

"Hi, Ichi-nii. I need to ask a favor. Would you please look after Grimmjow while I go to play soccer?" I asked. Ichigo jumped to his feet looking like he was ready to fight. Behind me I heard Renji gasp. I sighed.

"Grimmjow?! I thought he was dead! Where is he!? And why the hell should I look after- what is this?" Ichigo asked stopping his ranting as I put Grimmjow in front of his face. He stared at the kitten who stared back with at least the same intense.

"This is Grimmjow. He's Yuzu's kitten. And yes, he looks like the Grimmjow you beat, but he's A KITTEN! He's not the same Grimmjow. And if he is, he's a freaking kitten! He can't kill anyone (except if they're mice) and he's just a sweet little kitten, so don't try to fight him", I told Ichigo who continued to stare at the kitten. I sighed.

"Don't you dare to hurt an innocent animal, or you will be answering to me", I threatened. I put Grimmjow down in front of Ichigo, who still hadn't stopped glaring at the kitten. He however had lost his interest in Ichigo and was now moving towards Rukia. She picked him to her arms and started to scratch him behind his ears. He purred loudly.

"Aww, aren't you a cute one", she cooed and started to stroke him. He purred and curled up in her lap. She looked at me.

"Don't worry Karin, Grimmjow will be perfectly fine", she said smiling. I nodded as a thank and turned to leave. Renji was staring at the kitten, mouth hanging open.

"Oh, come on! He's a kitten who looks like an Espada. Get over it", I sighed annoyed as I left the room. Toushiro was waiting for me outside.

"Had any problems with Grimmjow and Ichigo?" he asked as I wrapped my arms behind he's neck and he lifted my legs of the ground.

"Nope, he probably went into some kind of shock. Rukia will take care of Grimmy", I said smiling and Toushiro chuckled. Then he bolted towards Orihime's place.

* * *

"Captain, you're back!" was the greeting from Matsumoto we heard as we entered the apartment. She hurried from the living room to greet us and as she saw me she started smirking widely.

"Karin, you're here too! That's so nice. How are you?" she asked and I felt like she was asking something else, but didn't know what.

"Excellent", I said smiling, making Matsumoto smirk even wider. Her eyes glanced at Toushiro before returning to me.

"That's so good! You look good too. But they do say that a girl is at her best when she's in love", she said brightly and a sudden realization hit me. _She knows! _Toushiro voiced my realization.

"How do you know that?" he said, obviously not meaning what she said but what she meant. Matsumoto smiled and took a step closer, pulling us both into a hug.

"Oh kids, you're so obvious! I've been waiting for this for a long time", she laughed and both of us made choking sounds.

"Sorry, I always forget that!" she said letting us go, and noticing a great tick mark on Toushiro's forehead.

"Matsumoto", he growled. "I am NOT a KID!"

Matsumoto took a step back, trying to keep a smile on her face, though she seemed to be panicking.

"Oh, Captain Hitsugaya, it's just a figure of speech", she said laughing a bit strangled. Toushiro glared at her and I grabbed his hand. He looked at me and sighed.

"Okay, okay, just don't call me a kid again", he said somewhat calmed, though his voice sounded still annoyed. He turned to look at me again.

"I'll go to grab my gigai, then we go", he said and exited to his room.

"Thanks Karin, you saved my ass", Matsumoto chuckled and I smiled.

"No problem, I've noticed Toushiro likes to listen to me", I answered. Matsumoto smiled before looking at me for some time.

"Karin, you wouldn't happen to have those photos of you and Toushiro you took in the photo booth with you?" she asked and my eyes went wide as I realized she knew about it.

"How do you know about it? I mean, I didn't tell even Yuzu", I said shocked. Matsumoto grinned guiltily.

"I was kinda following you, and it was me who shoved the photo booth. But do you have the photos", she asked. I thought for a moment I should be angry at her for following us, but then realized I should be thankful to her for making us kiss.

"I have them. You better not tell Toushiro you know about that, nor that you've seen the pictures", I said a handed the photos from my wallet to her.

She looked at the photos making *aww* noises and smiling adoringly. _Toushiro said he sometimes feels like she is his mother. I guess the feeling might be mutual._

"You look cute together", she said handing the photos back. I blushed a little while putting them back to my wallet. We heard the door open behind us and I turned to look at Toushiro, who was walking closer in his gigai. He was wearing a white short sleeved hoodie with a zipper in front and a pair of loose dark blue jeans.

"Ready to go?" he asked, and I smiled nodding in agreement.

* * *

**Toushiro's POV, the concert day**

The weeks after Karin's birthday were even better than the ones before it. We hung out with Karin even more, since I sometimes slept over in her house, and we also had the bank practice. The band had been practicing almost the whole spring, though Karin had skipped most of the practices for her soccer practice.

They had accepted that because she was a naturally talented guitarist. Now that the concert was getting closer she practiced with the band because (according to her word) she wanted to play well together with the band, not just alone.

Yuzu had told me that she also went there because I was there.

At the first practice I had met the rest of the band. They were all pretty relaxed about the concert, having played a few in earlier festivals.

Before the first practice I only knew that I would be singing (well duh) and that Karin was the lead guitarist. At the practice I found out that the rest of the band consisted of people I also knew better than most of my class mates.

An old friend of Karin and Yuzu, Midori, was playing the keyboard. She had been quite quiet while the band was introduced to me, only nodding face red when Karin told what instrument she played.

Heita, the big eyebrowed soccer friend, was the second guitarist and Ryohei, the blond and back haired kid, was on the bass. They were mostly joking together in our practice and Karin had to always yell them to concentrate.

The biggest surprise to me was that Yuzu was playing the drums. Somehow playing the possibly loudest instrument in the band didn't fit her quiet personality.

But man she was good.

She played unbelievably fast beats without even looking at the drums. She rather looked up or had her eyes closed, and a big smile on her face.

After learning the lyrics of the songs with Karin, I soon started to get the idea how to sing with the band. At our last practice before the concert, no one of us missed a beat or played out of sync with the others (that had been our biggest problem.)

We were being careful about our relationship, though I had to tell Karin that Rukia probably knew about it, because of she had seen her sleeping with my haori. She just shrugged and said that it was on expectable.

At school we acted like we were still just friends when other people were around (it was my idea, which she had happily agreed, since I didn't want the girls in our class to start being mean to Karin) but Karin had told me that she had to tell Yuzu about our relationship, so with her we were able to be 'us'.

I had totally agreed when Karin first said Yuzu had to know about our relationship, though I had to remind her to tell her not to reveal Ichigo anything.

That cursed Strawberry.

He still had no idea I spent about half of the nights in her sisters closet, nor that we even met anywhere else than school and band practice, but he always was glaring at me suspiciously when we met. I guess he thought I was dangerous to Karin.

Yup, he's a total idiot.

Though he also had someone else to glare suspiciously at. Yuzu was getting worried about the safety of Grimmjow, since Ichigo always glared at him when they were in the same room. Renji and Rukia were both already totally comfortable about him and I have to admit, I like that little white furball. What, he's soft!

One day Ichigo experienced a change of heart. Not about me.

He had been sitting on the floor in his room with me, Matsumoto, Renji, Rukia and Karin (who had told him she wanted to know about Hollows stuff) discussing about patrol areas when something unexpectable happened. Ichigo was resting his head on the edge of his bed when Grimmjow, who had been first chasing Kon around the room and had lost him when Kon hid under the bed and he was on it, decided to abandon teasing the stuffed animal and wanted some attention.

He padded next to Ichigo's head nudging his cheek with his nose and when Ichigo turned he's head, he licked the boys nose. Everyone in the room fell silent as Ichigo stared at the white furball who still continued to lick his nose. He sighed and lifted the kitten to his lap starting to stroke him absentmindedly.

Everyone stared at him for a moment, before returning to the conversation.

The weeks seemed to have gone by faster than usual, and now our band was getting ready for the days show. Everyone seemed to be nervous.

The backstage was full of people. Since the concert was the only thing our class did for the festival, the ones who didn't play in the band took care of everything else. The boys of the class were putting the light and speakers up while girls were finishing our clothes.

Midori had already finished dressing up and was now getting her hair and make-up done. She was wearing a light blue mini-skirt, dark blue boots which reached her knees and a loose white t-shirt with a white top under it. The t-shirt had the text: 'Who has to know?' on it in blue writing. Her hair was going to be put in a high ponytail with some bangs hanging loose from it. Her make-up followed the blue theme she was wearing.

Yuzu was already completely ready, tapping the table with her drum sticks. She had a black pleated skirt and white ballerinas (no high heels since she needed to be able to play the bass drum) though no one would be able to see them since she would be sitting. Her shirt was sleeveless on one side and had a short loose sleeve on other. It was light green, as was her eye make-up. Her hair was in two high pigtails on either side of her head.

Heita and Ryohei were almost ready; they were putting their shirts on. Heita had black jeans with both knees stylishly ripped, and an open black short sleeved dress shirt and a red top under it. Ryohei had dark blue tight jeans with a couple of chains hanging from them and a white hoodie with a blue t-shirt under it.

The girls had already spent an eternity (or so I thought) on picking a perfect dress for me. I had already tried on about seven combinations. Now the girls were looking happy about the eight. I had tight white jeans and a simple black sleeveless shirt with a white dragon on it. I also had a white wrist band.

The girls agreed that I looked good and one of the put some gel into my hair, making it stick into every possible direction in a slightly different way.

Yeah, it was a brilliant idea.

I hadn't seen Karin at all after we had started to prepare for the show. Now that the girls were ready with me I started to search for her.

"Do you know where Karin is?" I asked from Yuzu. She turned to look at me and shook her head. I sighed a bit and continued searching.

"Toushiro, what are you looking for?" I heard a familiar voice from behind me. I turned around with a big smile on my lips. _Wow_, was the first though I had when I saw here. **_Couldn't agree with you more._**

Karin had a denim mini-skirt with a chain hanging from it, white high heel boots which reached almost her knee and a tight blue shirt with the text 'You wanna get in my world, get lost in it' on the front. Her hair was in two low pigtails with some bangs loose in front of her face, and she was wearing the ribbons I had given her.

She had blue eye make-up that brought her eyes' blueness out even more and mascara which made her naturally long eyelashes even longer, making her gaze seem deeper. She had a little lip-gloss, not too much to look cheap but also not too little that it was hard to notice.

She had few bracelets with blue and white stones on her right wrist and a black wrist band on her right. Around her neck was a silver chain with a blue flower hanging from it. She was blushing a bit (or had blusher or both).

"You look amazing", I said and she smiled pushing the hair away from her face. She sighed a bit.

"I think I look ridiculous. They just didn't want to give me any jeans and normal shoes, so I'll have to wear these", she said pointing at her feet. I chuckled.

"What's wrong with high heels?" I asked jokingly. Karin took a few steps closer. She looked at me for a while before she smiled widely.

"Nothing now. I'm taller than you!" she exclaimed happily and I realized she was right. _Darn high heels. They do make her legs look goo though._ **_You are obsessing over your height a little too much. But you're right about her legs. _**_You're a dragon. How can you like how a human looks? _**_I'm a part of you, idiot,_** Hyorinmaru chuckled.

"Thankfully you don't usually wear high heels", I said and it was her turn to chuckle.

"Getting nervous about the show?" she asked straightening her skirt. I shrugged.

"Not particularly. I'm a bit annoyed though, Matsumoto told me that she would definitely be taping the show", I told with an annoyed sigh.

"It can be a good thing. Then we can laugh at how we looked later. Though in my opinion you look currently very hot", she said and leaned to peck my lips. When she pulled back I smiled and tugged her back closer to me with her pigtails and kissed her again.

"Karin, Toushiro, the show is about to began, come on here", Yuzu said peeking around the corner. We pulled apart and followed her to stage. The curtain was still down as we took our places.

"And now the class 1-E's band will play for you. Please enjoy the show", Miss Ochi yelled to her microphone and we heard cheering from the other side of the curtains. _Sounds like there are a lot of people. _**_Nervous? _**_Not really. _**_Excited? _**_You could say so._

The curtain moved out of the way and for a few seconds it was completely dark and silent before the spotlights lit up and Karin started to play her guitar.

After only few seconds the rest of the band started to play with her. I drew a deep breath and closed my eyes before I started to sing:

"_Brown eyes and lungs are filled up with smoke  
Fast lives are stuck in the undertow  
But you know the places I wanna go  
Cause oh, oh, oh  
I've got a sickness, you've got the cure  
You've got the spark I've been lookin' for  
And I've got a plan, we walk out the door"_

From the corner of my eyes I glanced at Karin. Her fingers were moving quickly as she played her guitar with a talent I hadn't seen her use before and she was almost dancing with the music. She glanced at me and smirked.

"_You know you wanna  
Just let go  
It's time to roll down the windows  
Sing it oh, oh  
Yeah all we need so here we go"_

Yuzu threw her head back and started to quicken the pace she was drumming. I reached the chorus and put even more emotion into my words.

"_Turn it up  
It's five minutes to midnight  
You're coming home with me tonight  
I can't get enough  
Shakin' me up  
Turn it up  
Alright, at five minutes to midnight  
You see our name in city lights  
We'll make the clock stop  
Make your heart drop and come alive"_

The whole band seemed to just be having fun. I was smiling when I sang, Yuzu laughed from the drums and Karin moved her mouth in synch with the words like she was singing too, with a huge smile on her lips.

"_We could  
Pack up and leave all our things behind  
No fact or fiction or storyline  
Cause I need you more than just for tonight  
You're oh, oh, all I care  
I can't stop my breathing in  
I'm weak and you were my medicine  
I won't stop till I am under your skin"_

The crowd was starting to dance and cheer and I just closed my eyes before I opened them staring at the crowd and sang:

"_You know you wanna  
Just let go  
It's time to roll down the windows  
Sing it oh oh  
Yeah all we need so here we go_

_Turn it up  
It's five minutes to midnight  
You're coming home with me tonight  
I can't get enough  
Shakin' me up  
Turn it up  
Alright, at five minutes to midnight  
You see our name in city lights  
We'll make the clock stop  
Make your heart drop and come alive"_

I didn't even notice I had started to move in synch with the music and just sang with all I had. The pace of the music quickened again and I looked straight at Karin and while singing:

"_And when the clock strikes twelve  
Will you find another boy to go and kiss and tell?  
Cause you know I never will  
I think we should strike a match  
We'll hold it to the wind to and see how long it lasts  
We can make the time stand still"_

She looked at me and repeated the words 'we can make the time stand still'. I smiled and turned back to the audience and sang the chorus two more times before we moved on to the next song.

The rest of the show went so fast. I didn't even notice when song turned into next, I just enjoyed singing. Karin had little by little danced closer to me while playing her guitar and was now almost next to me. Her forehead was covered in sweat and she the bangs were flat against it, but still she was smiling and playing.

Finally the pace of the songs slowed down, quickened again, until we reached the final song. The whole band was silent at the beginning before I started to sing at the same time Midori started to play her keyboard.

"_The best thing about tonight's that we're not fighting  
Could it be that we have been this way before  
I know you don't think that I am trying  
I know you're wearing thin down to the core_

_But hold your breathe  
Because tonight will be the night  
That I will fall for you  
Over again  
Don't make me change my mind  
Or I won't live to see another day  
I swear it's true  
Because a girl like you is impossible to find  
You're impossible to find",_

I sang, eyes closed. I opened them as the rest of the band started playing too, though more silently and calmly than before.

"_This is not what I intended  
I always swore to you I'd never fall apart  
You always thought that I was stronger  
I may have failed but I have loved you from the start_

_Oh, But hold your breathe"_

The band started to play a bit faster again and I sang straight out of my heart.

"_Because tonight will be the night  
That I will fall for you  
Over again  
Don't make me change my mind  
Or I won't live to see another day  
I swear it's true  
Because a girl like you is impossible to find  
It's impossible"_

I turned to look at Karin. She was swaying with the music, looking straight into my eyes. My gaze softened as I sang on.

"_So breathe in so deep  
Breathe me in  
I'm yours to keep  
And hold on to your words  
Cause talk is cheap  
And remember me tonight  
When you're asleep"_

I meant the words I sang to Karin, and she seemed to realize this because her expression was sad and happy together, like thanking me for the words. _Remember me tonight,_ she whispered as everyone else in the band except for Midori stopped playing for a moment. I still stared at Karin.

"_Because tonight will be the night  
That I will fall for you  
Over again  
Don't make me change my mind  
Or I won't live to see another day  
I swear it's true  
Because a girl like you is impossible to find"_

The band joined in again, and I moved my eyes across the audience where several boys were swaying around with a girl in their arms. At that moment I wished we could have just been listening so that I could have been able to dance with Karin.

"_Tonight will be the night  
That I will fall for you  
Over again  
Don't make me change my mind  
Or I won't live to see another day  
I swear it's true  
Because a girl like you is impossible to find  
You're impossible to find"_

I whispered the last lines almost under my breath looking at Karin, who repeated the last line together with me after the music had stopped. The audience started to applause and we formed a line and bowed to them before leaving the stage.

"Karin, you know what. I don't actually mind that almost all of the songs were love songs", I said to her as we walked away from the back stage (we didn't need to change clothes since they were ours or in Karin's case Yuzu's).

"I didn't mind it either. I think I like the last song", she said smiling as we left the school grounds (our performance was the last and everyone was allowed to go home. Yuzu had already said by to us seeming to think we needed time together. She's a smart girl.)

"I liked it too, though I would have wanted to dance with you", I admitted and Karin smiled entwining her fingers with mine.

"We can dance here", she whispered. I hadn't even noticed that we had reached the park. The sun was setting behind us.

"Yes, we can", I agreed and moved my hand to my waist and she lifted her hand to my shoulder. We spun around a couple of times to music only we heard. I moved my both hands to her waist pulling her closer and she wrapped her hands around my neck.

"Tonight was fun", she said quietly smiling.

"Yes it was. I never thought singing could be so fun", I said spinning her around a few times. After a while we were just standing there swaying from side to side, not really dancing anymore, only enjoying the closeness. She was bare footed since she had taken the boots of the first moment she was allowed. The sun disappeared into horizon and I let go of her.

"We should go home. I can stay over tonight, if you want", I suggested. Her face brightened.

"That's could be fun! And now that summer vacation has begun, we don't have to worry about anything", she exclaimed happily. I raised my eyebrows still smiling.

"Except about Ichi-nii, but we are good at hiding from him", she chuckled and I shook my head sighing a bit.

"Do you think we can ever tell him without it ending up as him killing me?" I asked jokingly. Karin thought for a moment.

"Maybe when I'm 18… I honestly doubt it though. It's good thing you're a Shinigami captain, that means you're fast runner", she chuckled.

I sighed and we kept on joking about Ichigo until we reached the Kurosaki clinic.

"Hey, you're in your gigai. That could be a problem in getting in. And Yuzu could see you", she said and I just shook my head popping a soul candy to my mouth.

"Go to Orihime's place", I ordered and the gigai turned around running away.

"Problem solved", I chuckled and Karin stuck her tongue at me.

* * *

_I feel so light, This is all I want to feel tonight, I feel so light, Tonight and the rest of my life_

* * *

**There. Finally done. Sorry that this took a couple of days, I've been lazy. **

**You can still send me more songs; I think I'll write more chapters with at least parts of songs. I like them too much.**

**Hope you like the Grimmjow kitty, I like Grimmjow too much to leave him completely out of this story, though he won't have a big role.**

**And just random information; I'm really excited. Today I bought Bleach Art Book and Bleach Official Character Book Souls books from a shop in Helsinki (capital of Finland). I think it's the shop in Finland that sells them, so I was really happy when my friend asked me to go to Helsinki with her. I had finally the chance to buy the books. And they only cost 35€! I feared they might be over 50€ together. **

**Happy me ^.^**

**Please review! Makes me happier :D**

**Songs used:**

** Five Minutes To Midnight by Boys Like Girls**

**Fall For You by Secondhand Serenade**

**Single lines from: Promiscuous Girl by Nelly Furtado, Dirty Little Secrest by All-American Reject and Tonight and The Rest of My Life by Nina Gordon  
**


	11. Walk at Night

**This is chapter 11 (already) and this time I'm trying a new POV I'll be writing. Read to find out whose.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Bleach this disclaimer wouldn't be here (man I'm logical x))**

**

* * *

  
**

**Karin POV**

"I meet you inside", Toushiro told me as his gigai headed back towards Orihime's place. He disappeared and I knew he was already entering my room trough the nowadays always open window. _Darn that shunpo is useful. Maybe he could teach me how to use it!_

"I'm home!" I yelled opening the front door. No one answered so I walked to the living room to check where everyone was. In the living room I found Ichigo sitting on the couch with Rukia on his lap. They were currently looking really busy.

"Oi guys! Do that stuff in Ichi-nii's room, please!" I sighed annoyed causing Rukia to look up and Ichigo turn his head around to look at me. Both of their faces were a bit red and they were both out of breath.

"Karin, you're already home. No wait, you're late! Where were you? Last time I saw you when we came to watch the show at your school. I didn't know Toushiro could sing", he snickered, forgetting his questioning.

"It's Captain Hitsugaya to you", I told automatically. Rukia tried to hold back a giggle and Ichigo looked at me seeming to be very annoyed and confused at the same time.

"Where were you?" he asked, in a more suspicious voice now, eyes squinting. I sighed.

"Just chatting with the band. Where are Yuzu and dad?" I asked looking around as if expecting they'd just pop around the corner. Well, with dad it might be even reasonable to expect that.

"We're out of Grimmjow's food so Yuzu went to buy some more and dad is in the shower", Ichigo told and turned back to Rukia, whispering something into her ear what made her blush even more than she already was.

"It's dark outside! And you sent Yuzu alone!" I exclaimed. Usually he would never let neither of us leave the house on our own after dark. Ichigo turned back to me, looking a bit tired and annoyed.

"She's not alone, Grimmjow is with her. You know as well as I that the little white bastard can be dangerous", he said rolling his eyes. I couldn't help but chuckle as I remembered what he meant.

* * *

*_Flashback*_

"_What's for dinner today?" Ichigo asked from Yuzu entering the kitchen. I was sitting on the kitchen stand chatting with Yuzu as she made dinner._

"_Mashed potatoes and meatballs", she answered looking over her shoulder. Ichigo came closer and inhaled trough his nose._

"_Smells wonderful! You don't mind if I take one, do you?" he said stretching his hand towards the almost ready meatballs._

"_Hands off", Yuzu said and slapped his hand away with the spatula she was holding. Ichigo scowled like a four-year old child._

"_Could you hand me some salt?" Yuzu asked me and I reached over to the spice shelf. As I handed the salt to her I saw Ichigo trying to snatch a meatball. I opened my mouth to say something when I saw something white jump on the counter._

_The white fur ball gave a short hiss as a warning before he moved his paw too quickly for me to catch. The next second Ichigo jumped backwards cursing loudly. As he turned towards me I saw three cut going over his left cheek and nose. I couldn't help but start laughing._

"_Yuzu has a food guard you shouldn't play with", I said between my chuckles. Grimmjow was sitting on the counter licking his paw, tail swaying from side to side as he stared at Ichigo._

"_It's your fault to try to take the food without permission", Yuzu said waiving the spatula around. "Good kitty Grimmjow, good kitty", she cooed and scratched Grimmjow between his ears (with the one with no spatula) and he purred closing his eyes._

_Ichigo kept his hand on his cheek and glared at the white cat and I could swear that the fur ball smirked at him. _

_*End of Flashback*_

_

* * *

  
_

"Well, he can be protective over Yuzu", I agreed with a shrug and was about to continue lecturing Ichigo as the door opened and Yuzu came in carrying a huge (and I mean it) bag of cat food Grimmjow padding next to her, glancing constantly up like making sure she wouldn't drop the precious food.

"Yuzu! How much food did you buy?" I exclaimed in disbelief staring at my twin. She looked around the bag and smiled.

"I wanted to get enough so I bought the biggest they had. Could you help, it's kinda heavy?" she asked trying to move the bag into a better position. I hurried to her and took the bag from her.

"Wow, this is heavy! How many kilograms this is?" I asked as I almost fell because of the weight. Yuzu examined the bag for a moment.

"Oh, it seems to be quite heavy. This says forty kilograms", she said in amazement. Ichigo and Rukia (who had continued doing what I had interrupted) stopped again and looked at her not believing what she had said. Both of their eyes widened as they saw the bag.

"Where did you buy it from?" Rukia asked taking a long look of the bag and sweatdropping. Yuzu smiled brightly.

"There is this amazing shop where I can get especially cheap candy, so I decided to check if they sold any cat food. I think it's called Urahara shouten", she said after thinking for a moment. I saw Ichigo's mouth hang open, Rukia staring at the bag in disbelief and Yuzu smiling not realizing what she had said had surprised people.

_Urahara shouten! I didn't know she still went there to buy things! And it's so far away from here. I can't believe she carried the bag by herself._

"And the manager of the shop is so kind! He suggested than Jinta could carry the bag for me. Jinta is a boy who works at the shop, he's always so nice to me", Yuzu smiled and I let my shoulders drop. Of course she didn't carry the bad by herself. And Jinta was ever so helpful around her.

"Umm, Yuzu, since when have you been going to that shop?" Ichigo asked carefully. Yuzu thought for a moment.

"I think I went there first time the summer after we had turned twelve or thirteen. It was the same year you met Rukia", she said and Ichigo's eyes widened. I already knew it; we had gone there together the first time. I knew Yuzu had sometimes bought candy from there and I still went there to train with Urahara and Yoruichi (though Ichigo didn't need to know about that).

"Come on Grimmjow, let's get you some food", Yuzu smiled to the kitten next to her. He mewled happily and followed her to the kitchen. I hobbled behind the duo, desperately trying to avoid hitting anything.

To no avail unfortunately.

"OWW!" I yelled as I hit my knee very painfully to a kitchen counter. I dropped the bag managing to drop it right on my toes.

"AGGH!" I bit my lip with tears in the corners of my eyes as I hopped around on one foot.

"Karin, are you okay?" Yuzu asked worriedly. I managed to nod and made a face (tried to smile, came out as a grimace).

"What are you two doing?" Ichigo asked trying to peak to the kitchen from his position on the couch.

"Nothing, you just go back to what you were doing!" I yelled back and rubbed my foot. Ichigo tried to get a glance of the kitchen before he shrugged and locked his lips with Rukia's.

"Can you get the bag to its place?" I asked Yuzu who had already cut the top open and put some food on Grimmjow's plate. She put the plate down in front of him and he started to eat. There is something funny about Grimmjow eating. He just eats so… proudly. Slowly chewing the food and occasionally lifting his head and looking at other people like they were his subordinates.

"No problem, I think I'll manage", she told and started to push the bag into the closet. I looked at her sweatdropping for a moment before moved to help her. Together we managed to get the bag to the closet with only five minutes of struggling.

"Phew, I don't think we'll need to buy more cat food for a very long time", I sighed and brushed the sweat away from my forehead. Yuzu leaned to her knees out of breath and nodded in agreement. _Damn, that's one difficult bag!_

"I'll be in my room if anyone needs!" I yelled to living room at the couple on couch and ran the stairs up. I threw my door open and saw Toushiro lying in my bed reading a book he had taken form my shelf.

"Hi Toushiro. Do you like it?" I asked and closed the door behind me. He looked over the book with a confused look.

"The book. Is the book good?" I cleared. He looked from me to the book and back before seeming to have realized what I meant.

"Oh, I guess it's okay. I read it mostly because Hyorinmaru likes it", he said putting the book down on my desk and sitting up. I threw myself on the bed next to him.

"He likes it? Well I guess he might, it has dragons in it", I said nodding a bit. Toushiro chuckled.

"He likes the way dragons are described in the book. They're magnificent creatures and it's an honor to become ones rides. Though the relationship between the rider and the dragon seems to be similar to ours", he said and I chuckled now.

"Well, if he likes it, he'd probably like to know that that one is only the first book. There are already two more in the series", I said and Toushiro groaned a bit.

"Great, now he'll want me to read those to him too", he said glaring at the blue covered book on my desk.

"The first one is the most boring, there will be so much more stuff in the next two", I told and Toushiro just sighed.

"I still like to decide myself what I read. Oh well, I guess I could humor him", he told with a sigh and shrugged.

"What kind of books do you usually read?" I asked curiously. Toushiro had spent so much time in my room so I was sure he had already seen what kind of books I read.

"I don't read that much, I usually don't have the time. When I have time I like to read biographies and psychological stuff", he said shrugging. "Haven't read much books from this time though, most books are old books written by Shinigami. Your books are a nice change"

"Glad to hear that", I smiled and leaned on his shoulder. I like to lean on something and usually it's a wall, but I had found out that Toushiro was comfortable to lean on, literally.

"What happened downstairs, I heard you yell", he asked after a moment of silence. I blushed at my own clumsiness.

"Yuzu bought a huge bag of cat food from Urahara shouten and I managed to hit my knee on a kitchen counter while carrying it and then dropped the bag to my toes", I explained and he chukled.

"I didn't know Urahara sold cat food. It's surprising. I wonder where he gets it from?" he said grinning at me. I looked at him pouting a bit.

"You worry about how Urahara gets cat food more than about your girlfriend hurting herself. Man, you're nice!" I huffed and he laughed.

"I know it would need more than that to seriously hurt you", he said and ruffled my hair (still on the pigtails, ruffling = messing my pigtails)

"Hey! Now I'll have to tie them again!" I complained as I grabbed his hand to stop from making my hair look more like a hairball than it already did.

"Oh, you're just about to go to bed, I know you don't sleep with ribbons in your hair", he said rolling his eyes. _Damn him and his geniusness. I wonder if that's a real word…_

"You're right. And I need to wash my make-up off! That's one of the reasons I don't use make-up", I continued to complain. I mean it was just wrong to force me to have lip gloss!

"C'mon, I think glitter looks good on you. I just wonder how's it ever going to come out of your hair", Toushiro teased and my eyes flared angrily.

"Don't tell me they seriously put glitter on me?" I said shaking with rage (almost shaking with rage at least) towards the poor girls that had put the make-up on me. He nodded and pointed towards the mirror. I jumped off the bed and ran to it.

_He's right! They put GLITTER on ME!_

Oh, they were so going to die after vacation. _Enjoy while you can._

"I'm going to the shower now! If I get glitter on my sheet's I'll have it in my hair for the rest of the year. And make sure you don't have glitter on you that you'd get on the sheets" I commanded pointing at Toushiro who was now sitting cross-legged on my bed while grapping my towel and pajama (this time black and white pants and a loose bright orange t-shirt) with my other hand.

"Yes ma'am!" he said and I stuck my tongue at him. _Man, I'm mature!_

I got to the bathroom door and tried to open it. Only to find it locked. _That old goat-face can't be still taking a shower! He's gonna use all of the hot water!_

"Oi, someone else needs to take shower too!" I yelled and banged on the door. I heard how the shower stopped inside and only few seconds after it my crazy dad threw the door open and tried to pull me into a hug.

"Karin darling, I understand! We've been spending so little time together that you just needed to see me though I was in the shower! Here, jump to my lap", he shouted and opened his arms. There were soap bubbles in his hair and he was wearing… nothing.

"Get back to the shower and finish it! Then put some clothes on!" I yelled and kicked him in the face sending him back to the bathroom. I quickly slammed the door shut, though I still heard whining about 'Karin has reached puberty!' from the inside.

"Geez, he's one crazy man. How on earth could Yuzu have become so normal?" I mumbled to myself as I leaned on the wall next to the bathroom door. I didn't even think about saying I was normal, I knew clearly that I wasn't.

After five minutes the door opened again and dad peeked from the bathroom. This time he was wearing his bathrobe.

"Karin, you look so beautiful! Did you have a date today?" he asked taking a second look of me. I opened my mouth to tell him the truth but he was already halfway downstairs singing 'Karin has a boyfriend; soon I'll have a second son'.

As I heard Ichigo yell: "What did you say?!" I decided that now was a good time to go to the shower.

I had to stay under the shower for ten minutes to get the glitter of my hair before I started to wash my face. Fortunately the make-up came off with just warm water so I didn't need to start looking for make-up remover.

* * *

After I had showered and changed my clothes (I learned from the first time when I had to walk around wearing only a towel in a house full of Shinigami) I headed back to my room. In the hallway I met Ichigo, who was carrying Rukia, though I am not sure if he even noticed me. He just opened his door with his foot (I've always admired how flexibly he was able to use his feet) and kicked it closed once they were inside.

Thank God we had thick walls.

The door was opened and Kon flew to the hallway before the door closed again. I stared at the lion plushie who started to sit and pout in the hallway before I entered my room. Toushiro had already thrown his upper part of the shihakushou and was now wearing only his pants **(A.N. Could someone remind me what they're called?)**.

"That was a long shower", he noted, not lifting his eyes from the book. I shrugged.

"The glitter was hard to get off. Plus I was attacked by dad in the hallway. It takes some time to kick him back to where he should be", I said sitting down on the bed drying my hair with the towel.

"Now my hair is all messy! And I have to brush it while it's still wet or I'll never get the tangles untangled", I said poking the mass of hair in my head. Toushiro rose into a sitting position.

"I can brush your hair. It's easier that way", he suggested and I smiled thankfully.

"That would be helpful. When I was younger and still had longer hair, Ichi-nii always brushed my hair. Now we both think I'm too old for that", I said giving him the brush. I sat down on the floor and he moved to sit on the bed behind me.

After five minutes of silent untangling of the knots in my hair he finally was able get them all open.

"There, it that good?" he asked brushing my hair few times. I stroked my hair and smiled.

"Thanks, it's perfect!"

"Umm, Toushiro", I said after a moment of silence. I turned to look at him over my shoulder.

"Yes?" he cocked his head.

"Do you think you could teach me to use shunpo? Or is it impossible for a human to use it?" I asked him and his eyebrows arched in surprise.

"I think humans should be able to use it, it's only about controlling reiatsu. And I guess I could teach you, we'll have time during our vacation", he said shrugging after a moment of thinking.

"Thank you!" I said excitedly and hugged him. He chuckled and hugged back, leaving me sitting on his lap.

"Maybe it's time for you to go to sleep", Toushiro said as he noticed me covering my yawn with my hand. I smiled tiredly.

"You're right. I'm completely exhausted", I said yawning again. I got up from his lap and he stood up from my bed. I quickly crawled under my sheets (non-glittery sheets).

"Sleep well", Toushiro whispered and turned the lights off before kissing my forehead.

"G'night", I mumbled and heard him chuckle as the door of my closet opened and closed. I was out in couple of seconds.

* * *

**Couple of hours later**

I heard annoying beeping which got louder and louder. Finally I rose to a sitting position with a groan. I looked around my room, my eyes stopping on the clock next to my bed. _It's two a.m.! What on earth is that noise!_

After s few moment's I realized the noise was coming from my room. I glanced around the dark room finally noticing Toushiro's phone/hollow detector or whatever the thing was. It was beeping and flashing. _There must be a Hollow somewhere. I guess I'll wake Toushiro. It's a wonder he isn't awake already._

I got up from my bed and grabbed the phone snapping it open. A small red dot was blinking on the screen. The map showed that it wasn't that far from out clinic.

_It's only a normal Hollow_, I noticed. Toushiro had once explained how the thingy worked and how to know how strong the Hollow was. I opened the closet and saw Toushiro sleeping. His breathing sounded calm and relaxed, but his face was in a frown, like the noise was bothering him.

_I can take care of a normal Hollow by myself. Toushiro looks like he could use the sleep_, I decided and silently closed the door. I made my way to the other side of my room and opened the window. I cool breeze blew in and I shuddered a bit. Even if it was a summer night, it was too cold to go out in a pajama. I grabbed sweatpants and a polo shirt from my chair (clothes always seemed to pile up on it) and quickly changed.

When I was ready I stepped out of the window. Carefully holding on the window's ledge I dropped myself on the ground landing with a small thud.

I glanced up to see if anyone noticed the sound, even if it happened to be a light one. No lights were put on, so I turned around and started to run towards the spot the map showed the Hollow was. During my running I tied my hair up in a ponytail to keep it from covering my face.

As I approached the playground (the place where the Hollow was appearing) I heard a scream. I sped up and when I turned around the corner I saw a scorpion like Hollow chasing behind a small girl's soul. She was running away from it with tears in her eyes. Suddenly her foot hit a stone and she fell over. The Hollow was now almost directly above her.

"Stop right there!" I cried and ran to the Hollow. I grabbed its pincer and used it as something to hold on as I swung my leg towards the mask. The Hollow managed to dodge and my leg was scraped on some spikes around its neck.

"Damn", I hissed as I felt the blood starting to drip down my leg. The Hollow howled making my skin go goose bumps.

"RUN!" I yelled to the girl who was now getting up. She looked at me and turned around running away as fast as her legs could carry. I decided to tell Toushiro or Ichigo to do a Soul burial to her the next day.

The Hollow turned to look at me since it lost its original prey. Its eyes were glowing yellow and the spike in its tail had something yellow on it. _Crap, that's probably poison. I hope the spikes around the head don't have it or I'm in trouble,_ I thought taking a glance of my leg.

The spikes had torn the sweatpants and there were three or four (couldn't tell because of the blood) cuts. I tried to put weight on the injured leg and hissed as the pain stung.

"C'mon, attack me already so we can get this over with", I muttered and kept an eye on the Hollow's movements. It was standing in front of me waiting for me to attack. I looked around and noticed a toy car next to me. I picked it up and threw it at the Hollow.

It struck the car with its tail and I took the moment when the tail was in front of it blocking some of its view to jump closer and grab the edge of the mask. It tried to shake its head to drop me, but I was clinging on the mask with both of my arms.

When it stopped shaking its head for a second I released my right arm pulling it behind me and throwing it at the mask with all the strength I had. The Hollow let out a final howl as the mask was broken into little bits. It degraded into nothing and I fell on the ground, falling on my injured leg.

I was surprised that I didn't feel any pain. Not happy though. It meant that the leg was going numb. I tried to move it finding it impossible. _This isn't good. Maybe I should have woken Toushiro._

Of course, when things are going bad they can only get worse.

I heard Toushiro's phone beep in my pocket. I took it and opened it. My face went pale and I looked up.

Rips were forming in the sky around a huge white hand. Soon another joined it and the hands pulled the sky open. A Menos Adjuchas came through the hole. The phone slipped out of my hands falling on the ground and breaking from the middle.

_Sometimes you should never get out of the bed._

_

* * *

  
_

**Renji's POV**

I was getting annoyed. This was the second time my Soul Pager was waking me up during the same night. First time I had gotten out of bed only to notice that Captain Hitsugaya was there beating the Hollow.

(**A.N. I don't know if they really are, but in my story the Soul Pagers (the name of the phone/hollow detector thingy) are connected and so when Karin took Toushiro's Soul Pager Renji saw that the it was there so he assumed of course that it was Toushiro)**

I glanced at the screen of the Soul Pager. _Hey, it's where Captain Hitsugaya is. And it's an Adjuchas. But Captain Hitsugaya is a Captain he won't need help._

Just then the Captain Hitsugaya's signal disappeared. _That can't be good! Maybe I should go to check if he's alright._

I was already sleeping in my Shinigami form since the gigai was uncomfortable, so I just grabbed Zabimaru from the corner of the room and went to get Matsumoto with me. _He is her captain, so she should be the one checking on him._

"Oi Matsumoto! Wake up! We got to go check a Hollow attack", I yelled knocking her door. I heard snoring from inside and opened the door. Matsumoto was sleeping on the floor (face up since she can't breathe face down) drool coming from her mouth and a sake bottle cradled in her arms.

_Seems like I'll be going alone,_ I decided with a sigh. Quietly, not to wake Inoue up, I went to the door and once outside, I shunpoed towards the location of the Hollow.

"Wow, he's a big one", I muttered amazes as I stared at the back of the huge Adjuchas. It was covered in white fur so it looked a bit like a yeti. It turned to look at me and I gasped when I noticed what it was holding in its fist.

It was Karin, unconscious (hopefully just that), face covered in blood. At the ground was what was left of Captain Hitsugaya's Soul Pager. I couldn't sense his reiatsu anywhere though. _Don't tell me she took his Soul Pager and tried to beat THAT THING by herself!_

"Howl, Zabimaru", I yelled and swung the sword at the Adjuchas. It cut it in the arm it was holding Karin in. The cut was not deep enough to cut off the arm, but the Adjuchas howled in pain (most probably in pain, you can never really know what are they howling about) and dropped Karin.

Before she hit the ground (which would have been lethal, since the fall was about 20 meters) I caught her with one arm while swinging Zabimaru into another attack. This time I cut the shoulder of the Hollow, deeper than earlier.

I swung for the third time, this time hitting the Hollow right in the center of its mask. It dissolved with a final howl and I turned my attention to Karin.

"Oi Karin, wake up! Hey now's not a time to be sleeping", I said shaking her gently. **_Technically, now is time to be sleeping,_** Zabimaru's tail noted. I ignored him.I realized the hand that had been on her side was wet with blood. _Oh shit! She probably has some major blood loss! Should I try to heal her with kido?_ I thought for a second. _No, I would most probably accidentally cause an explosion. I'll have to wake Orihime up!_

I cradled the unconscious Kurosaki girl tighter to my chest and shunpoed back to Orihime's place as fast as I was able. I was able to hear how Karin's breathing was becoming harder every second.

"Hold on kiddo, we're soon there", I whispered and knew if she was conscious she would have hit me for calling her a kid. When I approached Orihime's apartment I didn't bother trying to go to the door, so I just broke the window by a swing of Zabimaru. The breaking of glass was sure to woke at least Orihime, maybe even Matsumoto.

"Renji, what was that noise?" Matsumoto asked coming from her room as Orihime came from hers. They both were rubbing their eyes, indicating they just woke up. Well, it was about ten minutes over two in the morning.

"That was just the window. Inoue, I need your help! Karin tried to kill an Adjuchas and she's in a pretty bad shape", I said and the orange-headed girl was completely awake in mere seconds.

"Put her here", she said pointing towards her bed. I followed her to her room and put the little raven haired girl on the bed. Her chest was barely moving anymore.

"Soten Kisshun", Orihime said calmly and the two spirits flew from her hairpins (which seemed to have been in her hair during the night) and Karin was soon surrounded by the yellow-orange power-field. Orihime sat next to the bed holding her hand on the power-field.

"Renji, do you think we should call Ichigo and Captain Hitsugaya here?" Matsumoto asked sitting down on the floor next to me. Concern rang clear in her voice.

"Well, Ichigo and Rukia didn't hear the Soul Pager alarm when the first Hollow appeared so I doubt they'd here it now and Captain Hitsugaya's Pager is in small bits on the street Karin fought with the Adjuchas", I told and she sighed.

"One of us needs to go. You know how angry they'll both get if we won't tell them what happened. And imagine if they found Karin's bed empty and didn't have any clue about where she was", she said and I had to agree with her.

"I can go, just call me if anything changes", I told and stood up. I knew that Matsumoto had grown close with Karin and wouldn't want to leave her side. She glanced at me thankfully and a minute later I was shunpoing across the town.

* * *

**Toushiro's POV**

When I woke up it was still dark. I looked around the closet for a moment before remembering where I was. I was sure there was a noise that woke me up, but it was dead silent. _Maybe I imagined it._

Then I heard the noise again. Someone was knocking on the window. _I don't think Karin has any other boys climbing in her window. And it's the middle of night._

I opened the closet door a crack and gazed at the window. I was surprised to see Renji knocking on the window. I opened the closet door completely and jumped out of the closet. I looked around the room to spot the upper part of my outfit.

I noticed on Karin's bed and same time noticed that the bed was empty. Panic hit me. _What? Why is the bed empty? Where is Karin? It's the middle of night! _**_Maybe she went out for a walk, _**Hyorinmaru suggested, but I could hear concern in his voice too.

I grabbed the shihakushou haori quickly throwing them on, picking Hyorinmaru from the desk and opening the window violently, almost breaking it in the progress.

"Abarai, what's going on? I hope you have information about Karin's whereabouts", I said to him before he even had a change to open his mouth, voice cold as ice. He glanced at me and then to Ichigo's window.

"I don't have time to explain twice, just listen as I tell him", he said and nodded his head towards Ichigo's window. I nodded and climbed out of the window jumping to the roof to listen from there. Renji moved to Ichigo's window and knocked it.

After a few moments (ones of the longest in my life – why couldn't he hurry up!?) a drowsy Ichigo opened the window.

"Renji, do you have any idea what time it is?" he asked, sounding annoyed. Renji didn't waste any time bothering to answer.

"It's about Karin. She's hurt", the red-head told Ichigo, who was immediately wide awake. My eyes popped open and I wanted to go to shake Renji until he told me where she was and was she alive. **_You need to calm down. Now is not the time to lose your patience._**

"WHAT!? How? Where is she? Is she okay? Renji tell me!" he yelled, probably waking up few neighbors. I couldn't care less if he did; I wanted answers to the questions.

"She was fighting an Adjuchas when I found her. But you couldn't say fighting, she was already unconscious", Renji told and I clenched my fists biting my tongue to stop from starting to ask where she was. Renji would tell.

I started to search for her reiatsu. My panic and worry grew as I realized I wasn't able to feel it. _She can't be dead! _**_She might be too far and too weak for you to feel. Relax_**_**!**_

"How could she have been fighting an Adjuchas? Why would she be?" Ichigo asked, voice filled with fear and disbelief. Renji shook his head.

"I don't know about that, all I know that she was fighting it. I took her to Orihime's place so that-." I didn't hear the rest. I was already shunpoing towards Orihime's place. _Karin, why would you go to fight a Hollow?_

As I arrived at Orihime's I reached for Hyorinmaru in order to break the window to get in faster, only to notice it was already broken. I didn't waste another thought for it, only rushed to the only room which had lights coming from under the door.

I threw the door open causing both Matsumoto and Orihime to jump. Once they realized it was me they turned their heads back to Orihime's bed. I followed their gaze and gasped as I saw Karin lying there, unmoving. She didn't have Orihime's Soten Kisshun's energy field around her.

_No, tell me she isn't-_! **_She isn't dead. Can't you feel her reiatsu? _**I concentrated and realized I was able to feel a small, familiar reiatsu next to Orihime's and Matsumoto's stronger ones. I sighed in relief and slowly walked to the bed.

"Is she okay?" I asked in a whisper, not quite trusting my voice. Matsumoto stoop up from the floor and put her hand on my shoulder. Normally it would have bothered me, but now I needed the support.

"I healed her wounds, but she's still weak. I think the Hollow injected some kind of poison to her. The poison is now gone, but it weakened her. She needs rest", Orihime told gently standing up from the bed. I walked to the bed and brushed her hair away from her face (she still had most of her hair in ponytail, but some strands had fallen to her face)

She was wearing sweatpants I had seen her wear sometimes, but now the left one had been torn from knee and she had a bandage around her leg. She also had a bandage around her head and around her middle (the t-shirt she was wearing was pretty torn too).

"Why did you go fight that Hollow", I whispered to her. Matsumoto moved behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and noticed that Orihime had left the room. I stood up and turned to look at Matsumoto.

"Renji told me that when he found her she had your Soul Pager with her. It was broken though; the Hollow must have broken it. But that would explain why she was there. She heard the alarm and decided to beat the Hollow", Matsumoto told. That was the moment I realized I didn't have my Soul Pager with me.

"Why didn't she wake me up? It's my job to beat them and she knows it!" I was getting a bit angry. Matsumoto opened her mouth to say something but Ichigo decided to make his entry just then.

"Karin! Is she okay?" he asked concerned while slamming the door open. He didn't even notice me and Matsumoto as he sped past us (I had to jump away from his way) and kneeled down next to her.

"Hey Karin, are you okay?" he whispered and stroked her forehead. _For the first time we are having the same feeling! _**_Feeling the connection with him already?_**_ Nope, and never will._

"Captain Hitsugaya, Vice-captain Matsumoto", Rukia nodded to both of us as she followed Ichigo, much calmer than the said man. She glanced at me and I knew immediately she knew too that I had been sleeping in Karin's closet. She didn't say anything though, since that would have caused a murderous fit in a certain Deathberry.

"Why did she have to go to fight that Hollow?" he asked and me, Matsumoto and Rukia shared a look. None of us had realized we needed to explain it to him too.

"Maybe she just woke up and felt the Hollow and wanted to help?" Rukia suggested and laid her hand gently on Ichigo's shoulder. Ichigo looked up to her, a bit of pain showing in his eyes.

"Why couldn't she have woken me up? I would have beaten the Hollow easily", he asked the question I also wanted an answer. Karin stirred causing everyone in the room to turn to look at her. She moved her head slightly from side to side before opening her eyes and blinking a few times.

"Karin! You're awake!" Ichigo exclaimed and hugged his sister. She winced in pain and Ichigo let her go immediately.

"I'm sorry, I should have realized", he said loudly and Karin covered her ears with her hands. Ichigo looked at her confused.

"My head hurts, could you speak quieter?" she whispered hoarsely squinting her eyes and turning away from the light. I, being the nearest person to the switch, turned the lights of. It caused a sigh of relief from Karin, annoyed yell from Ichigo and a sharp hiss from Karin at her brother.

"Thanks, the light didn't feel nice", she whispered and I heard the sheets rustle as she sat up. In a second I was next to her and put a hand gently on her shoulder.

"You need to lie down. You're hurt pretty badly, and Inoue told us you were even poisoned", I said in a calm even voice. Matsumoto lighted a candle behind me so that we would see at least something.

"Right", she sighed and lay back to the bed. "The first Hollow did have some kind of poison in its spikes", she continued, sounding like she was accusing the Hollow of cheating.

"About that Karin, why were you out there fighting an Adjuchas? You know you're no match to them", Ichigo said and Karin turned her face to him, looking mildly angry.

"I'm not stupid! The first Hollow was a normal one, and it cheated with the poison! But I still won it. And then when the Adjuchas came my left leg had already gone numb. If I had been able, I would have run", she said glaring at him. The glare wasn't the same as usual; it lacked the blood freezing threat she usually managed to have.

"Why did you decide to go out in the middle of night to beat a Hollow?" Ichigo continued. Karin quickly glanced at me (Ichigo thankfully missed that) and shrugged, wincing right after.

"I just woke up and felt its reiatsu. Since I had an idea about what you and Rukia had earlier been doing I didn't want to come and wake you up, so I decided to fight it myself", she told, eyes meeting mine for a second. I scowled at her letting her know what I thought about her Hollow-fighting in general and especially alone at night.

Ichigo's thoughts must have been on same track since he opened his mouth face in deeper scowl than usually, but Karin stopped him.

"I know, I know, it was a bad idea! But I had only slept for about three hours, so it seemed to be a good idea", she told rolling her eyes. _She's not going to get out of this so easily, and she'd better know it. _She glanced at my face again and her scowl told me she knew she was going to have a lecture.

"What on earth will we tell to Yuzu? You went to bed last night, and then next morning you have bandages all over you!" Ichigo continued and Karin shrugged, winching again. _She needs to remember the moves that hurt._ **_Isn't that probably about every single move?_**

"Well, say that I left early this morning to sleepover at a friends' place for few days. After few days I will be recovered, thanks to Orihime's treatment, and here I'll have Shinigami around me any time", she suggested. Of course, it sounded like a good idea to everyone.

"That's right Ichigo, you can count on us in taking care of her! We will make sure _someone _is always with her", Matsumoto said, sounding maybe a little too excited. And I seriously wondered how on earth the boy had missed her meaningful glance at me when she said someone.

Karin didn't miss it tough, and she needed to disguise her chuckle as a coughing fit.

"Karin, are you okay? Is it difficult to breathe?" Ichigo asked spinning around to face his sister again. She sighed frustrated.

"I'm okay. Just a bit *yawn* tired", she said blinking drowsily.

"You should go to sleep, that way your body will recover faster", I told her keeping my voice even, though still glancing at her worriedly. She smiled weakly and closed her eyes. It took only few seconds from her to start snoring.

"She seems to be okay", Ichigo sighed in relief and stood up. He rotated his shoulders a few times before sighing.

"Hitsugaya, Rangiku, Rukia, Ichigo, do you want some tea? I've already made some for me", Orihime asked from the kitchen. She had started to call Ichigo by his first name when she started dating Ishida.

Matsumoto and Rukia agreed immediately but both me and Ichigo, having tasted her previous cooking (and unlike Matsumoto, found it… interesting), were a bit hesitant.

"What flavor is it?" Ichigo asked carefully as we approached. Renji was already sitting there; gulping down what smelled like a triple-espresso (he had taken a huge liking on coffee – the darker the better).

"It's blueberry with some honey and milk in it", she said giving us both cups of the steaming drink. We glanced at each other and counted to three taking a sip simultaneously. To my surprise it was really good.

"You're good at making tea", I noted and took another, longer, sip. It was nice to drink something warm after having so little sleep **(A.N. At least it always helps me)**.

"I think I'll go back to my house to get some sleep", Ichigo said yawning after he had finished his tea. Rukia stood up too, having finished much before him.

"We'll drop some stuff for her later today", Rukia smiled and the duo shunpoed away through the broken window. Orihime looked at the window a bit sadly.

"That's the second time that window has been broken within two months", she sighed and I remember the first time, which had been when Ichigo wanted to go bankai on my ass because he blamed me for the fact she had gotten hurt.

"Don't worry; the Soul Society will pay for it. It is our fault that it's broken", I said and set the now empty cup on the table. Matsumoto had already gone back to sleep and Renji had left for a round or two around the town (though I thought he would need much more rounds to get sleepy again after that espresso).

"I think I'll go to sleep too. It's a good thing it's vacation; we can sleep late", Orihime smiled and rose from the table. As she started to walk to her room she remembered Karin was there.

"You go to the room I've been using, I'll sleep in your room on the couch", I told her and she nodded whistling the way to my room. **(A.N. She has a couch in her room, similar to the one in Toushiro's office in the Soul Society)**

I walked to the room where Karin was sleeping and sat down on the bed next to her face. I looked at her and leaned on the wall.

"You know, you really gave me a scare. Next time make sure to take me with you when you feel like kicking some Hollows's ass at two a.m.", I sighed a chuckle. She stirred a bit and mumbled:

"Yeah, next time"

I rolled my eyes and suddenly felt very tired. I closed my eyes for a few moments and drifted to sleep.

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_The rest it still unwritten_

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**I think the beginning if this chapter is one of the lightest I've done by far. The end is a bit more serious, but I still tried not to make it too dark. I like especially the beginning; it was somehow so easy to write!**

**And sorry for complaining, but I'm disappointed that I got less reviews on the last chapter than usually. Wasn't it as good? **

**Also sorry that this is shorter than last time, I've usually tried to make every chapter longer than the earlier, but this would just have been stupid if I'd made it longer.**

**Song quote is from Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfiel  
**

**And does anyone know what book Toushiro was reading? I really like those books ^.^ (that's a hint, a bad one though... It helps no one)  
**

**Please review! I update faster, and better and longer updates! Reviewers get a big hug!**


	12. Cake of Death, or is it?

**Chappie number 12! I can't believe I've written so much! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.**

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**Next morning**

"Morning Orihime", Rangiku greeted as a yawning girl entered the kitchen. She rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times.

"Morning", she said smiling tiredly as she sat down. On the other side of the table Renji was slouching over the table, drool coming from his mouth. Orihime stared at him quizzically. Rangiku just glanced at him and shrugged.

"I guess the caffeine stopped working", she said and Orihime shrugged it off too. The two women sat eating a very odd breakfast (roasted watermelon and bean paste) and chatted cheerfully over Renji's snoring.

"Where are Toushiro and Karin?" Orihime asked looking around herself realizing the two teens (okay, maybe Toushiro isn't really a teen) were absent.

"I think they're still sleeping. When I checked earlier they were sleeping together on the bed. Didn't Captain Hitsugaya say that he would be sleeping on the couch?" Rangiku confirmed from Orihime, who nodded.

"He said he would sleep on the couch so I figured he really would", she continued and Rangiku smirked.

"Well, when I went there he certainly wasn't sleeping on the couch. Come on and see for yourself", she said and stood up. She walked to the room where Karin and Toushiro were sleeping, Orihime following right behind her. She carefully opened the door.

"Take a look", she whispered peeking around the door. Orihime did so too and smiled warmly at the sight. Toushiro was sleeping on his back, head close to the wall indicating he had been in a sitting position when he fell asleep and had moved lower to a better position.

His right arm was hanging from the edge of the bed and left was over Karin's shoulders. Karin had in some point turned to sleep on her side and was now holding onto Toushiro's haori with both of her hands, head on top of Toushiro's chest.

Both of them were breathing calmly and their position made the two orange-haired women at the door squeal and make *aww* noises.

Karin, being a light sleeper, stirred because of the sounds and the stalker duo quickly closed the door.

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**Karin's POV**

I was really comfortable when I started to wake up. My head was against something soft and I was feeling really safe. I moved a bit to bury my face deeper to my pillow as the events of the previous day (night) started to come back.

_Right, I tried to fight those Hollows. No wonder my leg and side hurt so much. The leg is definitely worse. It still burns! Darn those Hollows and their poisons._

"Stupid me", I groaned and pressed my face deeper to the pillow. Only to finally notice that it wasn't my pillow. It was too big, too huggable and had a Toushiroish vanilla scent on it. Slightly confused I lifted my face from the 'pillow' and looked into Toushiro's sleepy eyes.

"Morning", he mumbled blinking a few times to clear his vision. He was one of the worst morning persons I had ever met. Including Ichigo.

"Why am I using you as a pillow?" I asked, still not letting go. He was too comfortable to sleep on. I heard him chuckle.

"I could ask the exactly same question. I got drool on my haori", he said smirking. I scowled at him. He sat up pulling me with him. I was now leaning on his chest while he held an arm behind my shoulders.

"I do not drool!" I huffed angrily. He had an amused glint in his eyes as he ruffled my hair.

"Yes Karin, you do drool", he teased and ruffled my already messy hair. I glared at him. He seemed to be having so much fun. I felt my stomach grumble.

"I'm so hungry! I guess you get hungry easily when you try to beat a bit too strong Hollows", I said smiling weakly at him. His smirk disappeared and was replaced by a glare.

"About that, would you care to tell me what exactly you were thinking? And why did you go after the Hollow. Earlier you said you didn't want to wake your brother and Rukia up, knowing what they had been doing, but why didn't you wake me up?" he asked and I hung her head ashamed.

"I wanted to help. And I noticed it was a normal Hollow, so I thought I'd be able to handle it on my own", I told and he sighed angrily.

"It was the middle of night! Why didn't you wake me up to beat the Hollow? Even if there aren't Hollows roaming on the streets it's not a good idea for a young girl to be running around after dark", he told and I tried to smile again to calm him down. It didn't seem to help.

"I already told you that it was night, so I wasn't thinking clearly", I told me getting angry at him. I knew the dangers of the street, but I was perfectly capable of defending myself from the normal dangers.

"But still, why didn't you wake me up? I might have let you come with me and that way you wouldn't have gotten hurt", he asked anger and sadness mixing in his voice.

"I'm so sorry about that. I was going to wake you up, honestly, but when I saw you sleeping I didn't want to wake you. You looked like you needed the sleep", I said staring straight into his eyes to make him see I meant what I said.

"Karin", he said gently, putting his hands on my shoulders. "I'd rather lose some good sleep than have to worry about you like that. What do you think I felt like when I noticed that your bed was empty? Or when I heard Abarai tell you're hurt."

I stared at his teal eyes, only now realizing how scared he must have felt. I felt even worse now.

"I'm sorry", I mumbled again and dropped my eyes. He moved his hand under my chin and lifted my face to look at him.

"Just don't do it again, okay?" he said and I nodded. "Good thing. I think I really should teach you that shunpo so that if you ever again meet an Adjuchas, you can run away", he continued, starting to smirk again. I sighed in relief. _Old Toushiro is back. He seems to be too sad when he worries about me like that._

"Can we start already?" I asked, excited. I had enjoyed being carried while the carrier shunpoed, so I was certain it'd be even more fun when I could shunpo by myself.

"Absolutely not!" Toushiro said immediately. I looked at him confused, making him sigh in frustration.

"Karin, you were hurt last night. And don't even try to tell me you're okay, I know you're not. It takes a lot time to recover from poison, so we won't begin training shunpo for at least a week, so you'll have time to recover _completely_", he explained. It kinda made sense.

"A whole week! I can't be hurt that badly!" I argued with him. He looked at me, annoyed.

"I'll teach you something else about Soul Society if you want. Something that doesn't include you having to use that leg. Or we can just rest and have fun", he said. _This is probably the best offer I'll get._

"Okay then, I guess that's fine", I told smiling brightly. "But can I now get something to eat?"

"Oh right, you were hungry!" he remember and got up. I tried to follow him, but as I put my weight on my left leg pain shot through it. I let out a small cry of pain and almost fell. Before I was able to it the floor Toushiro grabbed me by my shoulders.

"Are you alright? Does the leg hurt much? I think I have Urahara's special painkillers somewhere", he said and helped me stand straight. I tried to put my foot down again, but as I put a small amount of weight on it, the pain returned.

"I could really use those painkillers. But they make me drowsy, so I'd rather eat first. I don't want to fall asleep on the table", I said and leaned on him to keep the weight off my foot.

"I think it's better if you don't use your leg. The poison will slow down the healing no matter what kind of Urahara's super medicine you're eating", he said and scooped me to his arms.

"Hey! Warn when you do that!" I exclaimed and he chuckled.

"Sure, next time I'll give a heads up", he laughed and held me tighter to his chest. It was a comfortable feeling, though I was too proud tomboy to ever admit it. Toushiro opened the door using his foot so that he wouldn't swing me around.

"Captain, you're awake already! How are you feeling Karin?" Rangiku asked as we entered the kitchen. She was sitting at the table with Orihime, Renji snoring on the background.

"My leg is killing me and I don't ever remember being this beat, but otherwise I'm fine", I said as Toushiro put me down on a couch in the living room (you can see from kitchen to living room). I kept staring at the sleeping Renji and Toushiro followed my gaze.

"Don't worry about him; he likes to drink coffee, but once the influence of caffeine runs out he'll fall asleep. Happens every day", Toushiro said with a shrug.

"Why doesn't anyone drew anything on his face?" I asked, honestly confused. I would have used a chance like that immediately. Rangiku stared at me for a second before she started to laugh.

"You have the best ideas!" she exclaimed and dug her lipstick from her pocket. Smiling mischievously she started to draw on poor Renji's face. (**A.N. Lipstick isn't easy to get off your face, especially if it's on your eyebrows. Renji doesn't have that problem though, he doesn't have eyebrows and when he had, they were red)**

"And I'm so hungry I could eat a horse! What's for breakfast?" I asked excitedly missing Toushiro's worried glance towards the two women in the kitchen.

"Roasted watermelon and bean paste!" Orihime exclaimed smiling widely. I stared at her flabbergasted. _She can't be serious! I mean… can watermelons even be roasted??_

"Or I can make you a sandwich", Toushiro offered with a chuckle. _My expression must be priceless._

"Sandwich sounds perfect", I said quickly and Toushiro smirked at me. Rangiku finished her 'artwork' and scowled at me.

"Karin c'mon, just try our watermelon! It's really good, honestly", she said sitting down next to me. I smiled awkwardly.

"I think I'll still rather take the sandwich. Plus I'm not that hungry", I explained. Rangiku sighed.

"How come no one ever wants to taste our food? It's really good, even if it looks and sounds weird!" she asked and I got a little guilty.

"I promise I'll try some day. But today, I'll just take the sandwich", I promised and Rangiku smiled widely.

"Thanks Karin! I promise you'll like it!" she said grapping my hands. I nodded trying to keep the smile on my face when inside my mind I was scared. _What have I promised? Don't I ever think?_

"Do you now understand what I meant I really can't eat my roommates' cooking", Toushiro whispered to my ear sitting on my other side and putting a plate with a sandwich on it on the table in front of me. I nodded worriedly.

"But I promised them. Tell me what dish is the most edible", I whispered back. He chuckled and patted my head.

"I think you can taste any of them, they taste different, but the oddness is same", he said, only managing to make me more confused.

"Has anyone picked my stuff from our clinic? I mean, I don't want to spend the next few days in a bloody and torn outfit, and I really doubt neither Rangiku's nor Orihime's clothes will fit. They have a little more something around here", I said gesturing towards my chest. I wasn't really flat but compared to those two… well, you get the point.

Toushiro looked at me (at my boobs…) and I could swear I saw him blush when he realized what he was doing. He quickly looked away and answered staring at the table.

"Your brother said he'd drop your stuff, but he hasn't dropped by", he muttered an answer. I smirked inwardly.

"You could borrow Captain's clothes. You two are nearly the same size", Rangiku suggested suddenly. We both turned to stare at her like she had lost her mind. Maybe she had.

"No, I can't", I said. She cocked her head.

"Why can't you? I mean he has a lot of human clothes, you are a tomboy and it's only normal to borrow your boyfriend's clothes", she said. I glanced quickly at Renji and Orihime. The latter was smiling kindly at me and the first still snoring on the table.

"You told Inoue too?" Toushiro asked raising a slender eyebrow at Rangiku. She grinned happily.

"Well of course! I think the only ones who doesn't know are people in Soul Society, Urahara and co. plus Ichigo", she told and I groaned embarrassedly. It wasn't like I was embarrassed of our relationship, just that I wasn't used to being gossiped about.

"Are you angry at me Karin", she asked worriedly. I lifted my eyes to meet hers and smiled a bit.

"No, it's okay. Just be sure not to tell Ichi-nii, he would attack Toushiro. Not that Toushiro wouldn't be able to beat him, but I'd rather have them not destroying everything", I said shrugging. Toushiro smirked at me. Most likely 'cause I said he'd beat Ichigo.

"Well that's good. But now, you follow me and I'll get you some clothes from Captain's closet", she said and helped me up from the couch. She practically carried me to Toushiro's room, since I avoided putting weight on my leg.

"Hmm, let's get something that doesn't look too much like boys' clothes", she said after she had helped me to sit on the bed. She dug around Toushiro's closet for a moment before she pulled out loose denim shorts and a white short sleeved button up shirt.

"There, do you need help with the shorts", she asked as she handed the clothes to me. I shook my head and slide the torn sweatpants off.

"I really liked these. But now they'll have to go", I sighed a bit sadly. They had been my only black sweatpants.

"I can take you shopping to get new clothes once your leg is better", Rangiku said and a dangerous glint appeared in her eyes. I shuddered. The glint was similar to the one Yuzu always got when she decided I needed new clothes.

"Thanks, I guess", I told and carefully pulled the shorts up. It was nice to be wearing shorts because the fabric wasn't touching the wound in my leg. I put the dress shirt on and started to button the buttons.

"Hey, these buttons are on the wrong side", I said surprised. All of my shirts had buttons on the left side off the shirt (on my left hand side) but Toushiro's shirt had them on the right side.

"You haven't worn a boy's button up shirt before? They have them on the 'wrong' side", Rangiku explained. I stared at the open shirt and back at her.

"Well that's just stupid!" I said and buttoned up. (**A.N. I noticed this not a long time ago when I "borrowed" my brother's shirt. I thought for a moment I was putting it on inside out. And I've done that before.. I don't even know how on earth I managed to button up the shirt when I put It inside out, I guess I was tired)**

After I was decent Rangiku helped me back to the living room. Renji had already woken up, but didn't seem to be on the right planet yet.

"Morning Renji", I greeted and hopped on one foot with Rangiku supporting me. He lifted his head and tried to focus his eyes on me.

"Mornin'", he mumbled and let his head hung again. Toushiro had turned around when I greeted Renji and was already at my side.

"Let me help", he said lifting my foot off the ground and carrying me to the couch.

"Thanks Toushiro, though I like to walk -well, hop - around by myself. I don't feel so lazy that way", I told him. He looked at me amusedly.

"Those clothes look good on you. Though that shirt is pretty see-trough", he told making me glace down. I was glad I had a white bra, since even they were very much visible through the shirt. I blushed and glared at Rangiku, who had mysteriously disappeared. Toushiro followed my gaze.

"She does that a lot. If the shirt bothers you, I can help you to go and change it", he offered. I shook my head.

"No, it doesn't bother me that much. It really doesn't bother me at all. I can't say the same about Ichi-nii though. He has never liked when I wear something even near this", I said pointing at the see-throughness. Realization flashed on Toushiro's face.

"But I think you should be able to decide what you wear yourself. If you like the shirt he is not allowed to say anything about it", he said and I nodded in agreement.

"Hey Captain! Ichigo is here", Rangiku yelled from the front door.

"Speak of the devil", I sighed with a small smile. Toushiro looked at me and patted my head. Ichigo entered the living room and was right away glaring at Toushiro. He looked back annoyed, before moviong a bit farther from me. He didn't seem to want to start a fight.

"Karin, how are you feeling? Is your leg still hurting", Ichigo said turning his attention to me. I smiled as reassuringly as I was able.

"Oh, almost perfect. The leg just hurts a bit and I don't quite feel like walking around", I told, only making Ichigo look even more worried.

"Maybe you should see a doctor. You know to make sure there isn't anything wrong with the leg", he said and I glanced at Toushiro rolling my eyes. _Glad we seem to have inherited our brain from different parents. Ichi-nii probably has dad's...  
_

"Ichi-nii, are you honestly an idiot? I have been examined by Orihime, and she healed me. Out of all people you should know how well she can heal people. It will be fine", I said with a sigh, like I was explaining something to a child for tenth time.

"Okay I believe you. Here I brought you some clothes and other stuff", he said and gave me my medium sized bag. It was big enough to hold clothes and such for three or four days. As he handed me the bag he realized my outfit for the first time since he entered.

"HEY! Where did you get those clothes? And why can I see your bra?" he asked and glared at Toushiro, looking very angry as if it was Toushiro who made me wear the shirt.

"Rangiku helped me to look for some other clothes from Toushiro's closet since we didn't know when you would be here and I didn't want to be in my old bloody clothes", I told glaring at him warningly.

He completely ignored it.

"I won't let you wear something like that! Guys can get ideas!" he told angrily and I felt something snap in my head. _That _is overdoing overprotectiveness.

"I can wear whatever _I _like and you have nothing to say about that", I told eyes burning with anger. Ichigo finally realized he had pissed me off. He took a step back.

"Hey Karin, relax, I just- I thought- I-", he started to stammer as he felt my glare burn holes to his head.

"I'm sixteen. I wear whatever I like. You don't like it – so what? You don't own me", I growled at Ichigo. He was sweating very badly now, making his way backwards to the direction of the door.

"I understand, see ya soon, bye!" he quickly yelled as he reached the door and ran away. He had once felt my true rage and would never forget it. Let's just say it's not a wise thing to make fun of a girl who is upset.

As Ichigo had made his quick escape, Rangiku, Renji and Toushiro just glanced between the door and me, all of them having equally flabbergasted expressions on their faces. Orihime giggled a bit, having had witnessed Ichigo running away from me before.

"Did I just see Kurosaki stutter and run away from a girl who cannot even stand?" Toushiro finally asked to break the silence. Renji sniggered loudly before bursting out into a loud laughter which rang in the apartment. Rangiku joined him soon.

"When necessary I know how to make him realize I'm serious", I said with a shrug and took a bite from the sandwich I had left on the table. Toushiro looked somewhat impressed. I glanced at him.

"Is it really that weird?" I asked. He just nodded, Renji being the one explaining.

"He doesn't listen to anyone else, except Rukia sometimes. Not always though, which can be proved by the fact that he went to rescue her after she told him not to follow her. But anyway, usually he doesn't even listen to Captain-Commander Yamamoto's orders; he only follows them when he feels like it."

I thought for a moment before shrugging again. "That really sounds like Ichi-nii. But you just need to know how to make him really listen, after that it's easy."

"Okay, we believe you. Just eat your breakfast, you need the food", Toushiro commanded and gave me a glass of juice. I took it with a nod as a thank you.

"I think I'll go to Urahara's to train a bit. It should help me wake up", Renji told standing up and stretching his arms above his head with a yawn. He grabbed Zabimaru from next to the table (he was in Shinigami form) and jumped out of the broken window.

"Why didn't anyone tell him he had lipstick on his face? I mean he looked ridiculous!" I noted and Rangiku grinned mischievously. I rolled my eyes at myself. _Of course she wants to let Urahara have some fun too._

"I think I'll call someone to repair that window", Rangiku said leaving the living room to search for a phone. Orihime looked at us for a moment before following Rangiku muttering something about helping her to call the right number.

Toushiro looked after the surprisingly quickly disappeared people and sighed rubbing his forehead.

"They can't be more transparent in their subtle attempt to leave us alone", he said shaking his head and I chuckled finishing my sandwich and drinking the rest of the juice.

"She's just trying to make you happy, I guess", I told him and flicked his nose. He turned to look at me with a smirk appearing on his face.

"Well then, why don't you try that too", he said flicking my nose. I was completely surprised by this, because usually he just patted my head or something. I started to grin widely before tackling him. He was taken by a surprise and fell on his back on the couch. I quickly climbed to sit on his lap.

"Did you know that happy people laugh?" I asked and quirked my eyebrow. Toushiro looked at me slightly confused.

"Do you consider yourself to be a ticklish person, Toushiro?" I asked smirking even wider. Toushiro's mouth opened in surprise as he realized what I meant.

"Karin, don't you dare-", he began. "Too late!" I exclaimed and attacked his sides. I barely had to touch his sides and he was already squirming under me, trying to hold the laughter in.

"You ARE ticklish! I would have never guessed", I laughed happily and tickled him even more. He bit his lip trying not to laugh out loud, but as I found an especially ticklish spot his squirming increased and he started to giggle. I couldn't believe my ears. Toushiro was _giggling! _It was priceless.

"I'm so going to use this in the future", I told smirking even wider as I continued tickling. It was pretty hard to stay on top of him because of the squirming.

"Ka-Ka-Karin, s-stoph!" he breathed trough his giggles, tears forming in his eyes. I shook my head.

"No way, this is way too fun", I said and made my grand finale of tickling. Toushiro started laughing out loud, the whole living room echoing with his laughter. I paused for a moment and he used it to flip us over so that he was on top.

"Revenge is sweet", he said before moving his hand to my non-injured side. _Oh noes!_

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**Toushiro's POV**

After my vice-captain and Inoue made a pretty obvious attempt to leave me and Karin alone I sighed quietly. **_She seems to be having fun_**_,_Hyorinmaru said with a chuckle. _I still wish she wouldn't make those *aww* sounds every time I'm with Karin.__ **Aww, are you embarrassed? **__Hyorinmaru…, _I growled at the widely smirking dragon.**_ I love you too!_**

"They can't be more transparent in their subtle attempt to leave us alone", I sighed and shook my head. Karin laughed and finished eating her sandwich. **_Which you made with lots of love_**_,_ Hyorinmaru sighed sounding like a young girl in love. **_Hey, you're the one sounding like that!_**

"She's just trying to make you happy, I guess", she said giving my nose a flick. She did that often. I started to smirk at her.

"Well then, why don't you try that too", he I said flicking her nose in turn. She seemed to be surprised, since I usually didn't do something like that. She smirked evilly making me shudder inwardly. Suddenly she tackled me making me fall on my back on the couch. She didn't waste any time before climbing to my lap preventing me from getting up without making her fall.

"Did you know that happy people laugh?" she asked raising her eyebrow in question, smirk still on her face. _What on earth does she mean? _I wondered.

"Do you consider yourself to be a ticklish person, Toushiro?" she asked, smirk growing wider. _Oh no, no, no, she can't mean what I think she means!_ _**I think she means what you think she means. This is gonna be fun!**_

"Karin, don't you dare-", I stared to say. "Too late!" she exclaimed happily and attacked my sides. The moment her fingers touched my sides I started squirming around. One of my biggest secrets was that I was one of the most ticklish people in Soul Society.

"You ARE ticklish! I would have never guessed", Karin laughed happily and continued to tickle me even more. I bit his lip trying to keep the laughter inside me, but as she found an especially ticklish spot I started to giggle. Yes, giggle not laugh.

Inside my mind I was only able to hear the roaring laughter as Hyorinmaru practically rolled around on the ground of my inner world laughing so hard that tears were coming from his eyes. _Could you shut up?_ I asked annoyed. He probably didn't even hear me.

"I'm so going to use this in the future", Karin said continuing to smirk and tickle me. I tried my hardest to get away from under her, without dropping her so that she'd get hurt.

"Ka-Ka-Karin, s-stoph!" I said to her out of breath, tears forming in my eyes from laughing (read: giggling) so much. She shook her head still smiling.

"No way, this is way too fun", she told attacking my most ticklish spot at the same time. I started laughing out loud, the laughter echoing in the small living room. She stopped tickling for a short moment. I took advantage of it and flipped us over so that I was now on top of her.

"Revenge is sweet", I smirked at her and got ready tickle her side that wasn't injured. Suddenly I heard Rukia's voice.

* * *

**Rangiku's room, No one's POV**

Rangiku and Orihime had long ago finished calling the repair man who promised to come and check the window the next day. After the call they had started to wonder if they should go shopping or just stay there as they heard a sound never heard before.

Giggling.

"That isn't Karin's voice", Orihime noted staring at Rangiku. She stared back, eyes widened.

"There isn't anyone else than Karin and Captain. That would mean it's Captain", she said not believing her own words. The two women stared at each other in silence for a really short moment before another giggle was heard.

Suddenly they both had bolted out of the door back towards living room to spy on the duo on the couch.

"He _is _giggling! This can't be true! A giggling Captain", Rangiku said staring at the couch where Karin was sitting on top of Toushiro. Orihime was just as flabbergasted because she had learned to know the little captain pretty well and giggling was something on top of the list of things he'd never do.

Apparently she had been wrong.

"Captain is ticklish! How come I didn't know that about my own captain?!" Rangiku said eyes popping even wider as Toushiro flipped Karin on her back and sat on her lap. _That can't be my captain! Who are you and what did you do to Captain Hitsugaya?_

"Hey, who are you spying on?" Rukia asked from behind the duo staring at the couple in living room. Both of them jumped and screamed causing Karin and Toushiro to stop and realize they had audience. Rukia peeked around Matsumoto and Orihime to see Toushiro sitting on top of Karin on the couch.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Wow, could have never guessed that about you, Captain Hitsugaya", she said not even blushing as she stared at the couple. They stared at her, turned to glance at each other and seemed to realize the position they were in.

Toushiro quickly jumped off from Karin, who in turn sat up on the couch getting suddenly really interested of the ceiling. Toushiro stared at the three women a familiar vein popping in his forehead.

"Can I ask you _why _were you spying in us?" he asked and the room temperature dropped by ten degrees. Karin, being the only one wearing a short-sleeved shirt, wrapped her arms around herself because of the temperature of the room. Ice-crystal started to form in the windows.

Rukia and Rangiku, knowing how dangerous the 10th Division captain could be, disappeared leaving behind two clouds of dust. Orihime looked around herself realizing she was alone.

"Uhhm, I think I should just go", she mumbled and ran after the shunpoing Shinigami duo. Toushiro was able to bet they would be found at Urahara's filling Renji (and possibly Urahara & Yoruichi) in on what had happened.

"It's always so nice to know no one is interested in what you do", he mumbled annoyedly. Karin laughed a bit embarrassedly.

"What do you think they'll tell Renji", she asked turning her eyes away from the ceiling and gazed at Toushiro. He shrugged.

"Probably over exaggerated version of what they just saw", he told looking back at Karin. She smirked widely.

"Do you think they'll mention _you giggled?_" she asked slyly. Toushiro's cheeks turned slightly red.

"I did not", he defended himself, but even his voice told he didn't believe his own words. Karin chuckled.

"Of course you didn't", she said and Toushiro had to fight the urge to stuck his tongue at her.

"So, what should we do? We really can't go out because of your leg. Do you have any ideas", he asked instead, deciding to change the subject. Karin looked at the table thinking.

"I know! Let's bake something!" she suddenly exclaimed at turned to look at Toushiro with a bright expression. He raised a slender eyebrow.

"You can't be serious? You told me about the killer Spaghetti Bolognese, remember?" he said and Karin blushed. Her spaghetti had made Ichigo spent a week at the clinic because of a severe food poisoning.

"Well we could bake together. I think you can make edible food, so you'll prevent me from making whatever we make lethal", she said pouting a bit. Toushiro gave up with a sigh.

"Okay, what should we do? I usually don't bake anything", he said helping Karin up from the couch. She thought about it for a while.

"Let's just open the cooking book from random page and do whatever is on it", she suggested. She really didn't have anything in mind.

"Sounds good, except we might not have the ingredients here", Toushiro, being the child genius, noted. Karin just shrugged.

"You can run the shop to buy something if it's missing. But I think you'll be surprised about what we can find from Orihime's cupboards", she said and limbed to the kitchen while Toushiro supported her by holding her left arm over his shoulder, other hand on her waist.

Once in the kitchen he helped her sit down on one of the chairs and went to look for a cooking book.

"Here, this one has dessert recipes", he said putting a red book with a white cake on the cover on the table. Karin opened it from the middle and looked at the recipe.

"So, we'll be making strawberry cake", she said reading the title. "That sounds good."

She read the ingredient list quickly and looked at Toushiro.

"I think we can find everything except for the strawberries from here. You'll have to go buy them, I'll begun cooking while you do", she said and Toushiro nodded quickly and went to get his gigai.

* * *

**Couple of hours later, Toushiro's POV**

I had never realized cooking could be this fun. We had almost started a food fight while making the Cake and had managed to get some strawberry on the walls.

I also had some strawberry in my hair, while Karin had some whipped cream o her face. Yes, we had been that childish. But it was so fun.

We took about three times the amount of time to get the cake to the oven than what the recipe had claimed it would take. Now we were sitting in the kitchen and waiting to find out if it was edible.

"Toushiro, you know you should consider dyeing your hair pink. It would look good on you", Karin told with a serious face, barely containing the chuckle that was about to escape. I glared at her.

"I can't imagine pink looking good on me, whether it was my hair or my clothes", I told and Karin turned her eyes away, biting her lip to prevent herself from laughing.

The oven made a *ding * noise, indicating the cake was ready.

I stood up and carefully opened the oven; fearing whatever was inside was going to explode on my face. No *boom* happened. I put a mitten on my hand and took the cake from the oven. It seemed to be okay.

"Now we need to put the whipped cream, that is not on my face, and strawberries on it and it'll be ready", Karin said excitedly and grabbed the whipped cream. I put the cake down in front of her and we started to finish the cake.

After about fifteen minutes we both were covered in whipped cream and the cake was finally done. It was really a miracle that the cake even looked like a cake, considering the way we made it.

"Now I have to take a shower", Karin pouted a swiped some whipped cream from her face. I smirked at her.

"You can only blame yourself. You were the one who started to play with the whipped cream", I told and she stuck her tongue at me before starting to laugh.

"Maybe, but at least you have to take a shower too. Though I don't see much difference between now and before. Your hair is still white", she chuckled and I shook my head like a dog making whipped cream fly all over the kitchen.

"Hey, watch it! I almost got some in my eye", Karin laughed.

We heard a door open and froze.

"Hi Captain, we're back. And we brought Urahara, he promised to fix the… window?" Matsumoto's eyes widened as she saw the kitchen. Her jaw probably hit the floor.

"Hi Rangiku, Urahara, Orihime. Oh, and sorry for the mess, Toushiro will clean it up", Karin told smiling widely. Matsumoto and Orihime weren't able to get a word out of their mouths. Urahara however seemed find everything very amusing. He was chuckling behind his fan.

"Hey, why do I have to be the one who cleans up?" I asked turning to face her. She smiled innocently.

"You wouldn't make an injured girl clean up, would you?" she asked blinking a few times. I looked at her and gave up.

"Okay, I'll clean up… But then you have to be the first one to taste _that_", I smirked pointing at the cake on the table. Karin turned to stare at it blood draining from her face. She swallowed loudly.

"Okay… I guess I can do that", she said carefully and cut a small piece of the cake to a plate I gave her. I also gave her a spoon. She took it and just stared at the cake.

"Would you like if I fed it to you", I asked raising my eyebrow. Karin glared at me from the corner of her eye. I knew she would never agree to that, at least when we had audience.

She took a deep sigh and scooped a little amount of the cake to the spoon and put it in her mouth. Everyone was holding their breath.

"Hey, this is in fact pretty good!" Karin exclaimed surprised and stared at the cake. She took another spoonful and smiled.

"I can't believe we made something that tastes good", she laughed. "Here, try some", she said offering me a spoonful of the cake. I bend down and she put the spoon in my mouth. _She's right! It's just perfect!_

"Could I have some too?" Urahara asked smirkingly. Somehow it made me really suspicious but Karin just smiled at him.

"Sure. It's not like we could eat the whole cake by just the two of us", she told and cut another piece for Urahara. Of course, Matsumoto and Inoue both wanted to try some too and soon we were all sitting around the table eating the cake.

"Captain by the way, how did you manage to get the kitchen to look like this?" Matsumoto asked after a while, glancing around herself. Karin smiled embarrassedly and I just shrugged.

"You wouldn't believe how hard it is to use whipped cream", I said and Urahara laughed.

"Captain Hitsugaya, did you know that your head looks like a giant snowball?" he asked making Karin nearly choke on her piece of cake. I glared at the man.

"I'll go to shower. Save me a piece or two", I told standing up and heading for the shower. First I stopped by my room grabbing my towel from there.

In the shower I quickly threw my clothes to the laundry basket and made sure I had clean clothes to put on. I had already left my gigai again, so I had gotten whipped cream and strawberry on my shihakushou.

It took some time to wash all the cream away from my hair. It was even harder because I didn't see where it was because of similarity in color between it and my hair. After I was pretty sure I got all of the cream out of my hair I turned off the shower and dried myself with the towel.

I put my hakama on, but decided to leave my haori and kosode off (**A.N. Thanks for everyone who told me the names of the parts!). **I put the towel around my neck so that at least some of the water that would fall from my hair would not fall to the floor.

I opened the bathroom door and saw Karin standing on one leg right in front of me, holding a towel in her hand. She had her back towards the door, so I figured she was waiting for her turn in the shower.

As she heard the door open she turned to look at me. I found it amusing how her eyes moved from my face to my chest and stomach. She blushed a little as she stared at me and even more when she noticed I had been looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, hi Toushiro. I was going to the shower, to get this stuff out of my hair. And so… could you move or something", she mumbled making sure to keep her eyes on my face. I smirked at her and decided to tease her a bit.

"Sure, I guess I could move, if I wanted to", I told putting one hand on my hip and ruffling my wet hair with another. She looked at me confused.

"What do you mean? I need to go to the shower", she told. **_Yeah, what are you trying to get? _**_You just watch._

"You have to make me move", I told her and she glared at me. The effect of the glare was lesser than usually, because of her blush.

"Toushiro", she growled at me. I smirked back.

"Fine", she told finally a smirk appearing on her face. She jumped closer to me and brought her hand to poke my side. I jumped away from the hand, surprised.

"I win!" she laughed and opened the bathroom door. I stared at the door. **_She poked at you!_** Hyorinmaru sneered at me.

"I'll get you someday", I told her through the door.

"Nah, you won't! You aren't smart enough", she yelled back, loud enough for everyone else in the kitchen to hear. I was able to hear Matsumoto's poorly stifled laughter.

"You just wait and see", I mumbled at the door, knowing full well from the sound of shower that she wasn't able to hear me anymore. **_I think she's a better prodigy than you_**_**. **__Shouldn't you be on my side? _**_Why should I? _**_You're a part of me. _**_So?_** _Nothing…_

I went back to the kitchen and saw a piece of cake on a plate and a small piece of paper in front of it. The paper said 'Toushiro's! Do NOT touch!' in Karin's handwriting. My expression softened.

**_Aww, how cute! _**Hyorinmaru said, sounding like a woman watching a soap opera. _**You know, I'm starting to get offended by those comparisons of yours,**_ Hyorinmaru pouted. _Better get used to it._

"Captain, we talked earlier when you were in the shower about how we should make a trip to the beach when Karin's leg is better. Would you stand spending time on the beach?" Matsumoto asked as I sat down to eat my last piece.

"We being?" I asked once I had swallowed everything that was in my mouth.

"Well, Orihime and Uryuu both are coming, as well as Chad, and then Renji and I. Karin already said she'll come and asked if she could bring Yuzu too, which is completely fine. Then of course Urahara and Yoruichi and everyone in the shop who'll like to come, I think Jinta will certainly be coming. And of course we can't forget about Rukia and Ichigo", she listed.

"And Tatsuki, don't forget that you said I can invite her too", Inoue added quickly.

"Kurosaki would come? I don't think it's a good idea if I'm there too then", I told. That man seemed to have something against me since he had found my haori from their laundry. Well, I have to admit, it was kinda suspicious.

"But Captain!" Matsumoto whined. "Karin will be so disappointed if you don't come!" she told. I knew she was right. If everyone else would be coming, of course Karin would want me there too.

"And we can keep Kurosaki away from you two", Urahara said smirking mischievously. I didn't like that smile, I didn't like it at all.

"Okay, okay, I'll come too. When we'll we go?" I agreed.

"We thought that about a week from now. Urahara and Orihime both are sure that Karin's leg will be completely healed by then", Matsumoto answered smiling widely.

"He agreed to come?" Karin asked approaching the kitchen jumping on one leg. She had changed her clothes and was now wearing white shorts and a black top whit the text 'It's the end of the world' on it. She rubbed her hair with the towel, and it was currently a huge ball of hair.

"Yes!" Matsumoto told excitedly. Karin glanced at me as if asking if it was okay with me. I nodded slightly and she smiled happily.

"That's so great! What beach will we go to?" she sat down on the only free chair and everyone started to discuss about the place. Urahara however glanced occasionally between me and Karin trying to hide his smirk with his fan. I noticed this and got _really _worried.

* * *

_I'm the best damn thing that your eyes have ever seen!_

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**This is it this time. Next time is the trip to the beach! (I miss summer!!)**

**Thanks again for everyone who told me the names of the parts of the shihakushou. And the book Toushiro was reading was Eragon from the Inheritance cycle by Christopher Paolini. I really recommend it to those who haven't already read it.**

**And everyone who likes to watch Bleach videos from youtube should definitely watch this: **

**http:// www. youtube. com /watch?v=4YiKJ9cbpoA (remove the spaces). It's well made, fun and random!**

**A really big hug to reviewers!!**


	13. To the Beach

**This is chapter 13. Most of it is about the trip to the beach.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach**

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**Karin's POV**

The week my leg took to heal went faster than I would have ever guessed. After two days I was able to put my weight on my left leg again and wasn't so dependent on Toushiro and was able move around Orihime's place myself. Toushiro however told me that we would have to stay in. When I asked him why, he told it was safer.

And I don't like to be this protected. Of course it's a nice feeling when someone protects you, makes you feel how that someone cares about you. But I don't want to be a damsel in distress. I already have an overprotective big brother; I don't need an overprotective boyfriend.

So I decided to sneak out on the fourth day I was spending at Orihime's place.

Orihime was at Ishida's, Matsumoto had gone shopping and Renji to Urahara's to practice. So when Toushiro decided to take a shower, I took advantage of not being watched over at the moment.

I quickly scribbled a note to Toushiro where I told I had gone to buy ice-cream and then walk around. I just wanted to get out, not make Toushiro worry too much.

So I put on my sneakers and as quietly as possible sneaked out of the apartment. Once I was down at the street I stopped to close my eyes and smile as I felt the warmth of sun on my face and the slight breeze make my hair, which I had tied to a high ponytail, sway. I breathed the fresh air and slowly walked to the shop near Orihime's apartment.

I walked straight to the ice-cream desk from where the familiar man smiled at me.

"Hello again, young lady", he greeted me. After the first time we had bought ice-cream together with Toushiro we had decided he had the best ice-cream in the town, so we had started to always get our ice-cream from him.

"Hi Giuseppe", I greeted back. We had become kinda like friends and Giuseppe sometimes gave us free ice-cream, saying that we were his favorite customers. **(A.N. I think that best ice-cream comes from Italy, so that's why the Italian name)**

"No boyfriend today?" he asked looking around me. I shook my head smiling.

"Nah left him at home. I wanted some time for myself, and what's a better way to spent it than eating ice-cream on a nice weather", I said and Giuseppe nodded solemnly.

"That is so true. So, what shall it be? Take anything you want, and I'll add one more ball on the house", he said winking.

"That's so nice. I think I'll take one ball of vanilla and another of strawberry", I said examining the ice-cream flavors.

"I'll give you a chocolate ball on the house then", Giuseppe told and scooped three balls to a waffle cone. He even put some whipped cream on it.

"Thank Giuseppe! See ya again", I told and waved at him after paying for my ice-cream.

"It's always nice to see you, Karin! Have fun today", he yelled back.

I licked the ice-cream absentmindedly as I walked to the park. I knew that Toushiro liked to spend about ten minutes in the shower, so it would take about five more minutes before he would realize I was gone. I felt a little guilty for leaving like that, but it was also his fault. If he would have agreed with me when I asked if we could go for a walk, I wouldn't have needed to sneak out like that.

In the park I walked past the photo booth which held one of our happiest memories. Our first kiss. Now that I thought about it I realized it could have been more romantic, but not more like us.

Soon I became tired of walking and decided to rest for a moment. I walked to a huge oak in the edge of a pond and climbed to sit on one of its lowest branches. The branch was so wide I was able to walk on it. I sat down on the branch so that my toes almost touched the water.

I just had finished my ice-cream when I noticed that the surface of the pond was starting to freeze. _Oh no, someone seems to be a little angry._

"Hi Toushiro", I greeted him without turning to look at him. I was able to tell that he was behind me because I felt his reiatsu there. He didn't say anything, just waited for me to turn around.

I sighed.

"There's no need to be so angry. I'm fine as you can see", I told and turned around to face him. He was glaring at me, teal eyes almost shut. He was standing in the air in his shihakushou, haori flapping because of the breeze from the bond.

"Didn't I tell you it's not safe for you to leave the apartment?" he asked and I was able to literally feel the coldness in his voice. I sighed again. _This is gonna be harder than I thought._

"You did, but didn't I tell you I wanted to go out. It's summer; you can't expect me to sit inside for a whole week. And as you see, I'm okay. No hollows attacked", I told him sternly. I wasn't going to be the only one apologizing (though I knew I had to apologize for sneaking out).

"But you had no way of knowing that they wouldn't. What if a Hollow would have come?" he asked not giving up.

"What if? It didn't happen. And if one would have come I'm sure you would have beaten it in time. I know how long you usually are in shower", I told him. He was still glaring at me.

"Oh c'mon Toushiro! I'm fine! And if you worry so much about me then come with me the next time! That way you won't need to worry", I exclaimed and threw my hands in the air.

Bad idea.

I lost my balance and fell from the branch straight into the pond. It was pretty deep for a bond, so I was completely under water. After my brain caught up with what had happened I kicked a few times and broke the surface of the bond.

The first thing I saw was Toushiro's worried expression as he looked down at me. I scoffed.

"C'mon, I'm not made of glass", I yelled and splashed some water at him. I hit him straight in the face. He blinked a few times confused and then turned to stare at me. I stuck my tongue at him and started to swim towards the edge of the pond.

I heard Toushiro chuckle behind me and the next thing I knew his arms were around me and he pulled me up from the pond.

"I don't understand why I didn't realize you would do something like this if I kept you inside for more than two days. I should already know you better than that", he said chuckling again. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed closer to him.

"Let's get you some dry clothes so that you won't catch summer flu", he said and shunpoed away from the park.

"Toushiro", I mumbled as we arrived at Orihime's apartment. He glanced down at me before setting me down on my feet.

"I'm sorry I sneaked out. I know you would get worried, but I just wanted to get out", I told staring at my feet. I felt like I had been really childish.

"Hey don't worry about that. I'm sorry I didn't realize you wanted to get out for a change", he told and lifted my face with his hand. He's eyes were so close to mine and I was able to smell the sweet vanilla scent of his breathe.

He leaned down and captured my lips with his and I was able to taste the vanilla. I threw my arms around his neck and pressed closer to him. I felt his hands on my hips. I let my tongue wander across his smooth lower lip and sighed into the kiss. His arms pulled me even closer and I tangled my hands into his hair.

"That isn't the best possible place for that", we heard Renji's voice behind us. Unlike before when we were surprised close to each other I didn't jump away from Toushiro. His grip on my hips prevented that. He turned away from my lips and glared at Renji.

"Abarai, what are you doing here?" Toushiro asked coldly and I let my hands drop from behind his neck so that they were pressed between us. I was able to feel how muscular his chest was.

"I'm staying in the apartment which doorway you two are kinda blocking", he smirked and I blushed a bit, still managing to glare at him too.

"Rangiku would have loved to see you two like that and would have told it to everyone whether they wanted to listen or not. Ichigo would have killed someone. And either one of those two could have been the one interrupting you two instead of me", Renji told us and I realized he was right. It isn't the best idea to start kissing at the doorway of the place where Shinigami in Karakura town liked to meet.

"You could have used the window. It's still broken", Toushiro said glaring at him. He really didn't like the fact we were interrupted.

"Chill out. I'm just saying", he said and walked past us into the apartment.

"Oh and Karin. That white shirt is pretty see-through when it's wet", he told over his shoulder. I looked down and realized my white t-shirt wasn't really useful in covering me. I blushed and glared after him.

Toushiro sighed and gave me a short kiss before letting go of me. I smiled at him and wrapped my fingers together with his before walking into the apartment.

After that Toushiro and I went for walks together, so I didn't need to sneak out again. Only once a Hollow attacked and it was only a regular Hollow which Toushiro was able to beat with a single swing of Hyorinmaru.

Because we didn't want to cause anymore inconvenience to Orihime than we already had I moved after the first night to Toushiro's room (Ichigo wasn't of course informed of this). Because of the closet there was too small for anyone to sleep in and neither of us wanted to make the other sleep on the floor, we slept together on the same bed.

It of course caused Renji and Rangiku smile widely (and creepily) when we went to sleep. And I couldn't help but snuggle myself closer to him during the night so that when we woke up, I was always sleeping on top of his chest.

* * *

My leg got better every day and a day before the decided day of our beach trip I was able to use it completely normally again. Not a single move hurt anymore.

"Finally I'm okay", I exclaimed happily kicking my leg around. Toushiro stood far enough from me not to get a kick in his face.

"That's good to hear. You healed quicker than I had thought", Toushiro told and I spun around to smirk at him.

"So can you now start to teach me how to shunpo?" I asked excitedly. Toushiro chuckled.

"Not today, and tomorrow we'll go to the beach. After that I can teach you", he agreed. I beamed with happiness.

"Finally! After I learn how to shunpo that idiot can't always just disappear when he wants to", I said smirking mischievously and rubbed my hands together. 'That idiot' of course meant a certain brother of mine. Toushiro shook his head.

"You're unbelievable. But I have to tell you about tomorrow. Matsumoto rented a minibus so that all of us can fit in. That's because of so many people we invited can't use shunpo, and Yuzu doesn't even know about Shinigami, and the beach is too far to walk to. We're going to pick Yuzu, Rukia and your brother from your clinic tomorrow. Everyone else will come here", Toushiro told.

"Rangiku can drive? Wow, never would have guessed that!" I exclaimed, and got a little worried. I had bad experience of Shinigami drivers. When Ichigo first got his license and a crappy car (which had completely broken after two months and he decided not to waste money to get new one) he drove around the town with me and Yuzu onboard.

I swear I have _never _been that frightened. I lost count of how many other cars we missed by mere inches and how extremely happy I was once I got off the car. That was the first and the last time I ever sat in that car.

"At least she told me she has a license. I hope it isn't a fake", Toushiro told sighing. I glanced at him worriedly. I really didn't want to die.

"We just need to trust her. Have you packed you stuff already?" he asked sitting down on the bed. I shook my head.

"I don't have my swim suit with me. Nor my good towel. Nor anything else I'd need. But no worries, I asked Yuzu to pack my stuff too and she agreed. And maybe you should know that she's bringing Grimmjow too", I told. I had really started to miss the little kitten, I had grown used to him during the weeks he had lived with us.

"Won't he run away? Or will she keep him in a leash?" Toushiro asked. I looked at him a bit confused.

"Haven't you seen how attached he is to Yuzu? He would never run away from her, he likes her too much", I almost exclaimed. Toushiro shook his head and chuckled.

"I would have never believed someone would tell me Grimmjow is attached to a little girl. Well, I would have never believed someone would name a little kitten Grimmjow", he said and I laughed too.

"Oi, you two! Go to sleep already, tomorrow everyone needs to woke up early", Renji said opening the door a little.

"Sure thing. Turn around Toushiro, I don't want to change while you're looking", I said and Toushiro turned to face the wall. We had gotten used to this, because it was annoying when one of us had to leave the room while the other changed.

I quickly changed my denim shorts to a comfy pair of blue, short cotton shorts and my tight black top to a loose gray t-shirt which had a sheep on it.

"Good, I think I'll sleep in my hakama tonight", Toushiro said and loosened his obi enough to get the kosode **(A.N. that's the top part)** off. Then he tightened the obi again to prevent his hakama from dropping. He just threw the kosode to the chair next to the bed.

"C'mere, let's go to sleep", moving so that he was under the blanket **(A.N. Yes, Matsumoto gave him his dear blanket back) **and was lifting it so that I could easily snuggle next to him.

"Good night Toushiro", I whispered as he turned the lights off. I leaned my head on his chest and he wrapped an arm around me sighing deeply. Soon we were both deep asleep.

* * *

**Next morning, Toushiro's POV**

As I woke up the next morning I was hundred present sure of one thing. Karin really does drool while sleeping.

_She looks cute. But the drool is wet, _I thought as I stared down at her.**_NO shit Sherlock! I would have never guessed that. Drool is wet! _**_Shut up… you annoy me. _**_That's not fair! You like her better than me! _**_I thought that was already clear. _**_I like her better than you too!_**

I noticed that Karin was waking up too. She blinked a few times and lifted her face from my chest. She turned to look at me, though her eyes weren't really open. I wasn't even sure if she saw me. She yawned and put her face back down on my chest lifting it quickly again.

"Wet… I drool!" she whispered sounding horrified. I started to laugh.

"Finally you believe it. But don't worry, I don't mind it that much", I said and ruffled her already ruffled hair. She groaned tiredly and fidgeted to move herself so that she was able to bury her face to the crook of my neck.

"I don't want to wake up already. Let me sleep for another seven hours", she muttered and snuggled my neck. I patted her head.

"Oi, don't go back to sleep. We are going to the beach today. Sun and hot sand… On second thought, let's go back to sleep", I mumbled wrapping my arms around her. I had almost fallen asleep again as Matsumoto slammed the door open.

"Morning! It's a beautiful day, and our beach trip is about to begin! How can you two still be sleeping?" she told over lively and pulled the curtain in front of the window away so that the sun shone right to my face. I wrinkled my nose.

"Rangiku! Too bright! Not getting up!" Karin exclaimed and buried her face even deeper to my neck. I put my hand in front of my face to see something.

"Oh c'mon kiddies! You can cuddle at the beach once we can bury Ichigo deep in the sand!" she exclaimed and I felt a familiar vein popping in my forehead. Karin chuckled and lifted her face to glance at Matsumoto.

"Kiddies? And exactly how deep were you planning on burying him? Not too shallow or he can get out too easily", she said and sat up. Matsumoto smiled.

"Finally one of you is showing at least some enthusiasm. C'mon, try to get up, we need to be at the Kurosaki clinic in about ten minutes", Matsumoto said glancing at her clock. I practically jumped up.

"Why didn't you wake us earlier?" Karin asked taking off her shorts. I spun quickly around to give her some privacy.

"You were too cute. I mean I doubt even Kenpachi would have had the heart to wake you two up", Matsumoto cooed. I raised my eyebrow honestly doubting I could ever look that cute, no matter whom I was with. **_You just don't want to be his cuddle toy. Though you would be the correct size! _** _Congratulations. You've reached a new level in annoying me._

"Kenpachi… Wasn't he the only captain without bankai? The one Ichi-nii almost won?" Karin asked. I glanced over my shoulder to see she had already changed her clothes.

"Oh, I forgot you haven't met any other captains than Captain Hitsugaya. But how did you know that?" Matsumoto asked Karin. She shrugged without even looking at her; she was in front of the mirror trying to get her hair into her usual high ponytail. I noticed she was using one of the ribbons I gave her.

"Well, Ichi-nii told me about everything after Winter war, and Toushiro has told me even more about the Gotei 13 and Soul Society. I would like to visit there myself someday", she told and glanced at me. I shrugged meaning it was fine for me.

"You should definitely come! Though I'd advice you'd better to keep away from Kenpachi. He would want to test you, and I really doubt you'd be able to fight against a Captain", Matsumoto said excitedly and I made a mental note to keep Karin as far as possible from the 11th Division's area. It would be hard, since the 11th Division was right next to the 10th.

"Rangiku! We should already go!" Renji exclaimed poking his head around the door. He was holding a huge cup of coffee. _He has become addicted to that stuff. _

"Yeah, we're almost ready. Captain, you should get into your gigai", she said turning to look at me. I was really happy I had prepared for the trip yesterday, so when I got into my gigai I was already wearing clothes I'd be able to use at the beach.

I had blue and turquoise printed swim shorts and a simple white t-shirt. Karin had her usual denim shorts and a hooded red t-shirt.

We quickly grabbed sandwiches and juice boxes from the kitchen and hurried to the minibus. The bus had room for 15 people in it, excluding a driver. We climbed in and sat in the back row. Karin took the window side.

There were five rows of seats, two on one side and one on the other. So someone would have to come to sit almost next to me. Matsumoto noticed this and signaled Renji to take the seat. _I guess I can stand him there. It would be so annoying to have someone like Kurosaki or Urahara there. _

After we had gotten in Inoue and Ishida came with Chad. They sat in the second row, Inoue and Ishida in the two seats and Chad on the other side.

"Where is Urahara and those? I told them be here exactly at nine!" Matsumoto scoffed glancing at the clock. It was five minutes over nine.

"There he is. Seems like he's going to take lots of stuff with him", Karin said and pointed out of the window. I followed her gaze and my jaw probably hit the floor. Urahara was waving at us with his fan, Yoruichi, Jinta and Ururu following him. After all of them Tessai was carrying a huge (seriously) pile of stuff, starting from a sunshade and a chair.

"Renji, go and help them put those to the roof so that they won't fall", Matsumoto commanded, her expression staying normal. Renji stared at her sweatdropping until went outside with a sigh.

Urahara and Yoruichi sat in the first row and once Tessai had got all of their stuff to the roof he sit to the single seat in the front row. Jinta sat in front of Karin and Ururu in front of Renji. I wondered why they didn't sat next to each other, but shrugged it off.

"Now everyone, better hold on to something. I really don't know how to drive", Matsumoto announced smiling at us. Everyone fastened their seatbelts. Karin was holding onto the seat so hard that her knuckles had turned white.

"Don't worry I don't think she'll manage to get us killed", I said reassuringly. She glanced at me, not quite believing. I didn't believe myself anymore as I saw another car screech into stop just millimeters before it would have hit our bus.

Karin grabbed my hand and squeezed it tightly. I didn't complain. I needed some mental support to survive the rest of the ride.

Kurosaki, Rukia, Yuzu and Tatsuki (who lived closer to Kurosaki clinic than Orihime's place) were already waiting for us with their bags (which thankfully were a lot smaller than the one Urahara had brought).  
Yuzu was first inside the bus followed by Rukia (Ichigo had told them that he'd take care of their stuff).

When Yuzu entered the bus carrying the white little kitten, Jinta tensed visibly. Yuzu's eyes scanned the bus until she noticed him.

"Hi Jinta! I wasn't sure you could come since you do work at the shop", she told smiling happily as she sat down on the empty seat next to the red-headed boy, who was now smiling like he was the happiest guy on earth. _Oh, that explains it! He has a crush on Yuzu!_ I glanced at Karin who was looking at Jinta warily, noticing the way the boy acted too.

Someone else noticed it also, and he didn't like it.

Grimmjow hissed angrily at Jinta as he tried to reach to take Yuzu's hand. He looked at the angry kitten and drew his hand quickly away.

"Grimmy! Don't be like that! It's just good old Jinta, remember", Yuzu said to the kitten. His ear twitched as a sign he'd heard her, but he still didn't stop hissing. Yuzu sighed.

"Karin, could you hold him. He doesn't seem to like Jinta. It's odd, he's usually so nice to everyone", she said lifting the kitten over the back of the chair. Karin took him in her arms but still glared at the red hair visible over the back.

"You seem to share his way of thinking", I smirked at her. She looked at me surprised. I nodded my head towards the seat Jinta was sitting. She smiled sheepishly.

"I don't want him using her kindness. He needs to prove that he's right for her before I can accept him", she mumbled silently so that Yuzu and Jinta didn't overhear. I raised my eyebrow.

"You sound like a father considering giving his daughter's hand in marriage", I chuckled. Karin glared at me and started to absentmindedly stroke Grimmjow's fur. The two of them kept glaring at the back of Jinta's seat.

**_They're like from that Bond-movie! You know the one where the bad guy has a cat! _**Hyorinmaru exclaimed. _How on earth can you know about a movie I haven't seen?_ _**I**_**_t's boring in here, I like to rent movies_**_**.**_ _From where? You're inside my mind._ **_It's a zanpakutou secret._**

Meanwhile Ichigo and Tatsuki had also climbed in. Tatsuki went to sit in front of Ururu while Rukia had sat in front of Jinta. Ichigo glared at me and walked next to our seats.

"Is your leg fine now Karin?" he asked still glancing at me from the corner of his eye like he didn't like the fact I sat next to Karin. Probably didn't.

"Yup, perfectly fine! Not hurting at all anymore!" she told happily. Grimmjow lifted his head drowsily and after a brief glance at Ichigo he lowered his head back down. Yuzu turned in her seat.

"Karin's leg was hurt? How? Why didn't I know?" she asked looking a bit sad. Ichigo tensed up realizing he had said something he shouldn't have. _That happens a lot_. **_He has a big mouth_**. _For once I agree with you._

"I just hurt it while playing soccer. Don't worry, it wasn't big and I'm fine now", Karin said with a big smile. Yuzu glanced at her worriedly, and for a moment I thought realization flashed in her eyes. The moment was gone quick.

"That's good. Shame it had to happen when you were staying at your friend", she said smiling. Karin shrugged.

"It doesn't matter, I had fun", she told and Yuzu turned back to her conversation with Jinta, causing Grimmjow, Karin and Ichigo hiss. _I remember how I once felt bad for Karin because Ichigo would be harsh at her boyfriend-_ **_That's you! _**_I have noticed. But I feel even worse for Yuzu. She has an overprotective sister and kitten in addition to her overprotective brother._ **_Poor girl._**

"Ichigo go sit down! I won't promise your head will keep on your shoulders if you're standing while I drive", Matsumoto yelled and Ichigo hurried to his place next to Rukia. We were finally on our way to the beach.  
The drive wasn't tiringly long; it only took us a little less than one hour to reach the beach.

"Wooooow~! The weather is sooo nice~", Urahara practically sang as he waited for Tessai to get the stuff from the roof. Yuzu had already grabbed Ururu and Karin and dragged them somewhere to change for swimsuits. Matsumoto, Rukia, Yoruichi, Tatsuki and Orihime had soon followed the trio.

The people left at the bus were me, Ichigo, Renji, Jinta, Urahara, Tessai, Ishida and Grimmjow. We were all already wearing swim shorts (except for Urahara, who had his usual 'cape', and Grimmjow, who didn't use swimming suit since he's a cat** (SURPRISE! Sorry, had to do that :P)**)

"Toushiro, I need to ask you something", Kurosaki said turning to look at me after arguing about who is the better swimmer. I sighed annoyed.

"It's Captain Hitsugaya to you", I said and glared up at him. Even though I had grown a lot from the time we first met, he was still much taller than me.

"Yea, yea. But why are you so often with Karin? What is she to you?" he asked studying my expressions carefully. I had guessed he was about to ask about Karin, so I showed nothing on my face.

"She's nice company, that's why I hang with her. She's my friend. Satisfied?" I asked raising my eyebrow coldly. He ruffled his hair with his hand.

"I guess so. Just don't you dare to touch her or I'll be sure to teach you a lesson", he said glaring at me. I sighed inwardly. _Why does he have to be this difficult to handle? And why am I not allowed to touch her? It's her choice! _**_Well, try to look at this from his point of view. He doesn't want to let his sisters get hurt. _**_I understand that, but I'm not that protective over Momo, and she's a sister to me! I mean, have I even once threatened Kira?_

**_Yes. _**_When? _**_When they started dating. Remember, the 'do-not-hurt-her' –speech?_**_ Oh, you're right. But that was only once!_

"Ah, the ladies are ready! We shall go swimming!" Urahara suddenly exclaimed throwing of his cape and pants in one movement. I have no idea how that was possible, but I was glad he was wearing swim shorts under his pants.

**

* * *

Karin's POV**

We were in the changing room of the beach when I first noticed the swimsuit Yuzu had brought me.

"Yuzu! Why couldn't you take my normal swimsuit? You know I don't like to wear bikini", I complained as I held the light blue bikini that had some flowerlike prints in darker blue in them. Even though it was somewhat like a sport bikini (the lower part was like mini shorts and the top was tied behind my neck and back) but I liked better to use my knee reaching swimming shorts.

"When I heard from Orihime that Toushiro would be coming too, I decided you'd need to wear something sexier than what you usually wear", she answered sternly. My eyes widened.

"Yuzu! That's so not the point! And why should I wear a different swim suit for him?" I asked staring at my twin. She had a light green bikini top and light brown lower part. She shook her head.

"Maybe you'll understand someday. But I sure am glad you invited me too! Now I can give you advice", she told happily. _She's giving me advice about my relationship and doesn't even seem to notice when a guy has a major crush on her._

"Karin, your sister is right! When with a guy on a beach, you'll have to charm him with your body!" Matsumoto exclaimed. She was wearing a white bikini with some orange flower patterns in them. The bikini seemed almost too small for her.

"I can't wait to see Hitsugaya blush and stutter when he sees you!" Yoruichi told smiling widely her usual cat-like smirk. She had orange bikini with was tied from the front. I glanced around the room. Rukia, who had a pink striped bikini, winked, Tatsuki, wearing a blue white striped sport bikini hit her fist in the air and Ururu, the only one wearing a one part suit, in her case white with red dots, smiled kindly.

"C'mon guys! Not all of you can be thinking about that! It's not the reason we are here", I exclaimed frustrated, throwing my hands in the air. Orihime giggled. She was wearing a yellow bikini with a green shamrock printed in the top part.

"Of course not, but it's one of the most important ones", Matsumoto said winking an eye. I sighed.

"Toushiro isn't like that. I don't believe he would ever be staring at my body", I said turning around and walking to the guys who were still waiting for us. We heard Urahara exclaim something uraharaish and literally just rip his pants and that cape-thingy out.

Thank God he had shorts under it.

All of the guys turned to look at us and as soon as Toushiro's eyes met mine, he looked me from head to toe, mouth hanging slightly open. I heard giggling behind me and rolled my eyes. _Seems like he is a normal guy._

I quickly checked if Ichigo saw Toushiro's face, but his eyes were fixated on Rukia. _Yup, every guys mind works the same way, _I sighed inwardly. I glared at Toushiro meaningfully and he seemed to snap out of some sort of trance. Just in time, because Ichigo decided to glare at everyone else to make sure they weren't staring at his sisters.

"Karin, you usually don't wear bikini? So why do you wear now?" he asked turning to look at me. I glared at him.

"First, I can wear whatever I want without having to tell you the reasons. And second, I would have rather worn my shorts, but Yuzu decided to bring my bikini", I said glaring at my twin from the corner of my eye. She smiled innocently.

"I think it looks good on her", Rukia said and Ichigo didn't have any objections. She grabbed his hand.

"C'mon, let's go swimming. You did promise to have a race with Renji", she laughed towing my orange-headed brother after her. _Thank you Rukia!_

Tatsuki followed after Rukia, Renji and Ichigo saying she wanted to have a race against the winner. Chad told he'd go to look for cute little fishes and disappeared. Orihime and Uryuu had already gone somewhere and I didn't care where and certainly didn't want to know why.

"Yuzu, would you like to get an ice-cream with me?" Jinta asked shyly, and I glared at him. Toushiro put his hand on my shoulder to prevent me from attacking the boy. He deserved his chance, but still...

"Oh sure! I'll just take Grimmy with me, he loves ice-cream!" she told happily and I was able to see Jinta grimace. He liked the kitten as much as it liked him.

Meanwhile Yoruichi, Urahara, Ururu and Tessai had set up all of their stuff, and it almost seemed like they had brought a house full of stuff with them.

"Let's go somewhere else, this is a bit crowded", I said to Toushiro and took his hand starting to walk towards the rocks that were a bit farther away from us. I figured there'd be some shade, since it was a hot day.

When we reached the rocks I realized it was the best place to be on this beach. There was shade and a little cove that wasn't visible to the other parts of the beach.

"Are you a good swimmer Toushiro?" I asked smirking before I rushed to the water. It was so nice and cool, and the cove was not too shallow, so the water was almost immediately up to my waist. I turned around and saw Toushiro walking calmly to me. His expression was relaxed, eyes closed; it was clear that he was enjoying the coolness of the water.

I splashed the water at him.

He opened his eyes, surprised, and blinked a few times. I laughed.

"Sorry, you were an easy target", I giggled. His hair was now a shade darker, and it was hanging on his face. I smirk appeared in his face.

"You're just asking for it!" he laughed and tackled me to the water by grabbing my waist. My eyes widened in surprise and the next thing I knew I was underwater, Toushiro's face right in front of me. He straightened up, pulling me with him.

"That wasn't fair, it was a surprise attack", I complained as my head was above the surface again. He smirked raising his eyebrow.

"Oh, and your attack wasn't? I had my eyes closed if you remember", he said and I stuck my tongue at him.

"It's different! You're supposed to be a Shinigami captain and prepared for an attack any moment", I poked at his chest. He laughed.

"You're just annoyed I managed to surprise you, right _miss Kurosaki"_, he said leaning closer. His teal eyes were right in front of mine and they were the only thing I saw. I must have been redder than Renji's hair.

"Aren't you, _Captain Hitsugaya?"_ I asked managing to look questionable. Toushiro chuckled.

"Not at all", he said and leaned in to kiss me. I tasted the salty water on his lips and close my eyes pressing closer to him, almost leaning completely on him. Suddenly a stronger wave hit us and we fell in the water. The wave moved us enough close to the shore that when Toushiro was sitting and I was in his lap we both were able to keep our heads above the surface.

I started laughing at Toushiro's confusedly surprised expression. He shook his head and smirked at me.

"C'mon, let's go swimming, and this time also swim", I said standing up and reaching my hand for him. He grabbed it and I pulled him up.

"Can you swim?" he asked grinning at me. I hit his arm a little.

"Of course I can! And I know I'm better than you!" I told him and his eyebrow rose up in a challenging way.

"Really? _Wanna bet?" _he asked leaning closer to whisper in my ear. I was grinning from ear to ear.

"Sure, if you aren't afraid of losing to a girl for a second time", I told back and I could tell he was resisting an urge to stick his tongue at me. This made me almost laugh.

"You try to be so mature, but your still a child, I can tell that", I said flicking his nose before spinning him around. He glanced over his shoulder at me.

"Karin, what are you doing?" he asked, really confused. I put my hands on his shoulders.

"I'm feeling really childish", I told and jumped to his back. He almost instinctively took a hold of my legs so that I didn't fall and I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Now, run!" I laughed. I could swear he rolled his eyes before calmly walking deeper into the water. He walked until his feet didn't reach the bottom anymore. He tried to swim while carrying me, but that proved to be too hard.

"Karin, you need to swim on your own or I'll drown", he said struggling to hold his head above the surface. I let go of him and glided off his back.

"This is so nice", I sighed, closing my eyes and just floating there, waves moving me back and forth. I felt Toushiro's eyes on my face. I opened my eyes and glanced at him.

He was moving his feet and hands to keep relatively still in the water and looked at me with a thoughtful expression.

"Is there something on my face?" I asked starling him from his thoughts.

"No. That bikini looks good on you. I'm glad Yuzu brought it", he said, one side of his lips moving like he was trying to hold back a grin.

"I was able to tell you like it from the way you stared at me earlier", I told, not even trying to keep the smirk off my face.

"You happen to have a really good body, did you know that?" he asked and I was glad that my cheeks were originally red because if the sun.

"Thanks, you don't have a bad one either", I said straightening up and gliding closer to him to lay my hands on his chest. He smirked and pulled me closer by my waist. I leaned my head on his shoulder and sighed happily.

"Weren't we supposed to really swim this time?" Toushiro asked and I heard the smile in his voice. I shrugged.

"This feels nice. I'll swim around soon enough", I mumbled and closed my eyes breathing in the vanilla scent of Toushiro mixed with the scent of ocean.

"Sounds good", he answered rubbing my back gently. We stayed like that for a while, but soon the water started to feel too cold to just float around like we were some kind of sea foam.

"Let's race back to the shore", I suggested and unwrapped my arms. Toushiro let go of me and turned to face the beach.

"Sure, be ready to lose", he smirked at me. I grinned back and turned towards the beach ready to start swimming as soon as Toushiro had counted.

"Three, two, one, let's go!" he exclaimed and we both kicked forward. I had always considered I had strong legs, but damn, so did Toushiro. I couldn't even tell if he was serious or just playing with me. He smirked at me while taking a breath from his side.

Of course, he was also the first one to reach the beach. When it was finally too shallow to swim I stood up and leaned on my knees, panting. Toushiro was standing in front of me, one hand on his hip and other scratching the back of his neck.

"Are you glad we didn't make a bet about who's a better swimmer?" he asked offering me his hand. I took it gladly and he half dragged half carried me to where we had left our beach towels.

"You're much better swimmer than I ever would have guessed", I admitted and sat down on my towel. I looked up at the sky, which was almost totally blue, only few little clouds here and there.

"Swimming is almost the only thing I like to do in the summer. Water is never as hot as everything else", he told with a shrug. _Right, he is an icy-person._

"Is that why you're so pale? You don't like to lie in the sun?" I asked unnecessarily. He looked at me as if saying: 'Finally realized?'

"Speaking about laying in the sun, don't you need to use sun block?" he asked me and I realized that I hadn't put on any lotion during the entire day. My arms and shoulders were already a little red.

"Oh, you're right. I have it somewhere", I said starting to rummage through my bag. The bag was my usual bag I took when I went to beach, so there was always some sun lotion in there, but I wasn't able to spot the bottle today.

"Here, you can use mine. Seems like you've lost your own", Toushiro said handing me a blue bottle of sun lotion. I read the description.

"This is 50+! How easily do you get sun burns?" I asked staring at the bottle. I usually used lotion with a 25 block level **(A.N. I'm not sure what that is in English, I just tried to explain it the best I could)**.

"Have you ever heard that people with blond hair get sun burns easily? I have naturally white hair, so my skin burns really easily", he explained, looking almost like he was pouting.

"Sorry, I was just surprised", I said and started to spread the lotion to my arms and front. After I had put it everywhere I could I turned back to Toushiro, who had moved his towel to the shade and was lying there.

"Hey, could you help me with my back?" I asked him. He opened one eye to look at me. I waved the sun lotion bottle and he seemed to realize what I meant.

"Sure, throw the bottle", he said sitting up. I threw the bottle to him and he caught it without even looking at it. I lied down in front of him and untied the back of the bikini top. Soon I felt him spread the lotion carefully over my back. He worked slowly to make sure he didn't miss any spots.

"There, now could you help me? I have already put it everywhere but my back", Toushiro said turning around. I nodded even though he couldn't see it and spread the lotion on his back.

"Thanks, you have surprisingly gentle hands", he said smiling over his shoulder. I slapped his shoulder.

"Just what's that supposed to mean? Surpringly? Does that mean you expect my hands to be ungentle" I scowled and he laughed shaking his head.

"Of course, don't worry about that."

* * *

**Toushiro's POV**

I watched Karin from the corner of my eye as she lied on her stomach. I wasn't even sure if she was awake anymore, her back moved up and down together with her breathing.

After a moment she rolled over and looked at me. Her expression was thoughtful. **_Soon she's going to say something so romantic!_**

"Toushiro, I was just wondering… What would you look like if you wore a summer dress?" she asked blinking her eyes.

I'm pretty sure Hyorinmaru had some kind of seizure.

"WHAT? Why would you think about something like that? Why would I _ever _wear a dress?" I asked staring at her, flabbergasted. She shrugged.

"I don't know. Ichigo looked kinda pretty when he tried. We had to ask Uryuu to make the dress since none of us are his size. Uryuu was almost too happy about making the dress", Karin said smiling at her memory. I couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

"It was light blue with white flower patterns, and it had lace in the hem. I think I have a photo somewhere, I can show you sometime", she said smiling. _Kurosaki in a dress. This is priceless!_

"How did you get him to wear a dress?" I asked curiously. I seriously doubted it was his idea.

"He said to Rukia that he'd rather walk all day dressed as a girl than tell some guy named Byakuya that they're dating. I don't think he has told by this day, seems like he fears this guy", she smirked. My eyes widened, but I understood Kurosaki a little now. Kuchiki can be scary if he wants to.

"That Byakuya would be the same person as Captain Kuchiki I told you about. Rukia's brother", I told and realization flashed on her face.

"Right, the guy with the pink sword! Is he really that scary?" Karin asked and I had to stifle a chuckle. I had never heard anyone describe Kuchiki as 'the guy with the pink sword'. He would have skinned someone alive if he'd heard that. Though I was wondering why he hadn't already done it to Kurosaki. It was clear the orange-head annoyed him.

"He's a captain, and that means he's powerful. Your brother fought him once and the fight ended in tie, so he knows how strong Kuchiki can be", I told Karin. She nodded thoughtfully.

"So, how could I make you wear a dress?" she asked getting back to the original subject. I groaned annoyed, and Hyorinmaru regained consciousness.

**_Was she serious? She's the most extraordinary person I've ever met! Toushiro, wear a dress for her! _**Hyorinmaru commanded. _NO! I'll never wear a dress? Why would I?_

"I will never wear a dress. End of story", I said keeping my face as expressionless as I was able. Karin scowled before and evil smirk appeared on her face.

"There's nothing that can make you wear a dress? What if I ask really nicely", she said walking over to me and sitting on my lap. I raised my eyebrow. If she thought she could seduce me into wearing a dress she was so wrong.

"I won't wear a dress, no matter how nicely you ask", I answered shortly looking at her dark blue eyes. She winked at me and before I had time to react her fingers were in my side, tickling.

_Oh, nonoNO! _**_She's a sly one_**_. __ Don't sound so impressed! Do you want your wielder walking around in a dress? _**_Could be a funny sight. Hopefully she'll do it while you're in Soul Society! Oh, it would be so fun_**_**. **__Why is a part of my soul against me? _

I tried to squirm away from under her, but she held on with her legs. She was laughing.

"You sure you don't want to wear a dress? I promise I won't tickle you again if you do", she whispered to my ear. I shook my head, not trusting my voice. I didn't want to giggle again.

"Oh c'mon Toushi! It can't be that bad! You know I won't give up on this, don't you", she said and I tried to glare at her. It was more like a pout.

"Someday you'll be wearing a dress, mark my words Toushiro", she finally mumbled and started to stand up. As soon as she released me I flipped us over so that the parts were reversed.

"I never found out if you were ticklish", I smirked at her. She cocked her head, still grinning.

"I'm afraid you won't find out yet", she told simply. I stared at her, confused. Suddenly her hands were behind my neck and she pulled my face down to hers.

"You're so easy to distract", she whispered to my ear and I shivered as I felt her warm breath. She quickly kissed my lips and slid away from under me.

"Hey, that was unfair", I exclaimed turning to lie on my back in the sand. She cocked her head, smirking.

"Don't be a baby", she said shaking her head, ponytail swaying from side to side. I sighed and stood up and tried to swipe the sand off from my back. She chuckled and walked behind me and quickly started to swipe for me.

"KARIN? WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH _HIM_?!" we heard a way too familiar voice yell. Pretty angry voice. Murderous to be exact.

I glanced over my shoulder to look at a furious Ichigo. Karin had turned around probably to glare at her big brother.

"I'm just spending time with him. Is that so wrong?" she asked coldly. Ichigo's expression didn't change at all.

"I don't want you to spend time with someone so much older than you. Especially a guy!" he growled glaring at me before returning his eyes to Karin. _It's a really good thing he didn't come a minute ago. I don't know how he would have reacted if I had been sitting on his sister's lap. _**_It wouldn't have been pretty._**

"What about you and Rukia? She decades older than you", she asked and I felt how her reiatsu started to rise. If the one she was talking to had been anyone else than Ichigo, I would have put my hand on her shoulder. I wasn't stupid though.

"It's a different thing. I'm your big brother so you should listen to me and not-", his sentence was cut off by Karin, who kicked him in his side sending him practically flying to the ocean.

I stared after him, mouth hanging open.

"You sure he won't drown?" I asked carefully as the orange-head disappeared from our sight. Karin shook her head.

"Nah, he's way too persistent. Let's just get back to the bus where others are and he can come when he manages to get back to the shore", she said shrugging. I sensed Hyorinmaru stare at her with overflowing admiration. **_Marry her! Please! _**he suddenly said and I almost fell over. _Don't just say something like that out of nowhere! I could have choked! _**_On sand or what? _**_It's possible._

"Hellou! Earth to Toushiro", Karin said waving her hand in front of my face. I snapped out of my surprised state and fixated my eyes on her.

"Sorry. Hyorinmaru is being weird. And he's head over heels in love with you", I told her. She smiled brightly.

"Tell her he's the sweetest zanpakutou I've ever met. And that I love him too", she said as we started to collect our stuff. Hyorinmaru hummed happily in my head.

Pretty soon we had all of our stuff and started to walk back to the bus. As we came nearer to the bus Matsumoto spotted us.

"Captain, Karin, you're here. We were already looking for you, it's time to eat", she said waving around a big fork. Renji and Rukia, being next to Matsumoto, turned to look at us too.

"Ichigo went looking for you guys when he realized you two were the only ones missing. He might suspect something when he comes back", Renji warned us and I rolled my eyes. Karin smiled sheepishly.

"It might take a while", she told scratching the back of her head. "I kinda kicked him into the ocean", she finished staring at her feet. Everyone was silent for few seconds staring at her before all of them started to roar with laughter.

"You kicked him in the ocean?! That's just so priceless", Renji said holding his stomach as he sat down to the sand. Yuzu, Jinta and Ururu, who had been farther from the bus, came to see what the uproar was about.

"Oh Karin, you're back! I was starting to get worried about you", Yuzu said as she noticed us. I noticed that Jinta was looking relatively happy and that Grimmjow, who was being carried around by Chad, was glaring at him. _That cat is the most possessive being I've ever seen. _

"We were just a bit farther down this beach with Toushiro. There was no need to worry", she answered and patted her sisters head. She glanced at Jinta trying to figure out why he was so happy.

"Karin, come here. I know you're getting hungry, and here is food", I said waving a plate with grilled meat on it. She glared one last glare at Jinta before walking over to me.

"Give the poor guy a chance. Otherwise you'll be like Ichigo", I whispered to her as I handed her the plate I was holding and waited for Matsumoto (who was in charge of cooking with Renji and Tessai) to hand me another. Karin's eyes widened.

"You're right! I don't wanna be like him, at least about this thing! Maybe I need to relax a bit", she admitted sitting down on a chair Urahara had brought with him. She started to eat absentmindedly, which could be noticed by the fact that she sometimes missed her mouth.

After watching her eat like that for a while a sighed and kneeled down next her.

"Now you either start to concentrate on eating or I'll feed you. That's just wasting perfectly good food", I said her and her mind snapped back to reality and she smiled apologetically.

"Sorry. Got lost in thought. I wonder where Ichi-nii is… well, he'll be here eventually", she said, mostly to herself. I sensed a familiar reiatsu approach and rolled my eyes.

"He's almost here. Coming pretty fast", I told her and she glanced to the direction where his reiatsu was coming from. He was still too far to spot by eye.

"Gah, that's just cheating! He must be shunpoing!" she said noticing exactly how fast the strawberry was approaching. Almost everyone lifted their eyes to look at the direction of the Kurosaki when he came closer. Everyone could tell he was pretty angry.

Few dozen meters before the camp he slowed down not to rise any suspicion in people who didn't know about Shinigami (aka Yuzu). When he was close enough for us to see his face clearly he started to practically growl at Karin.

"Karin, what was that about? I was just protecting you", he said stopping right in front of Karin to glare at her. An instinct to get between her and her angry brother woke in me, but I managed to ignore it.

"Ichi-nii, I've said this before and I'll say it again. You don't _need _to protect me from everything. The least from Toushiro. Why would you need to protect me from my friend? Huh? Tell me that", she said unbelievably calm.

"He is a guy! You're a girl, and I know that you are good looking! I don't want any guys thinking about my sister _that way",_ he told her like I wasn't standing next to her.

"I'm old enough to take care of that on my own! Now I don't want to talk about this again, at least not today. We came to have fun", she growled back anger sparking in her eyes.

"Okay, we won't talk about this again today. But this conversation ain't over", he said glaring at me again. I stared back coldly. Everyone started to shiver as a cool breeze blew through our camp. Without anyone noticing Karin grabbed my hand and squeezed lightly. I relaxed and the air warmed again.

"Hey, let's get some music!" Yuzu exclaimed happily, noticing how tense everyone was now. She was holding Grimmjow again. He had most likely run away from Chad. The white kitten was sleeping on Yuzu's lap while she stroked his fur.

"That's a good idea. I think I saw a portable radio somewhere in the bus", Tatsuki said exited and climbed to the bus. After a moment of noises like she was throwing something big around the bus she came out carrying a pink radio.

"Found it! Now just wait a second and I'll find a channel with good music", she said starting to poke the buttons on the radio. Renji moved to help her, though I think she would have done just fine without his help, since she had grown up using all of this electronic stuff and Renji had just stated to practice using them.

However they did find a channel with decent music.

We had already been at the beach for several hours and it was over midday, so thankfully the hottest moment of the day had come and gone.

Ichigo, Renji, Ishida and Tatsuki started to play volley ball at a net that was close to our camp. The divided into pairs; Ichigo and Ishida against Renji and Tatsuki. If I had had to bet on that game, my money would have been on Renji and Tatsuki. The little that I knew about the girl was that she was almost like an older version of Karin.

We sat there looking at them play and chatting with each other as a new song began on the radio. Both Yuzu and Karin raised their heads and looked at each other.

"Let's dance!" Yuzu exclaimed smiling widely.

"Let's dance", Karin agreed. She rose up from the chair she was sitting and reached her hand to me.

"C'mon, let's dance", she said to me and I looked at her, confused.

"You want me to dance too? But I have no idea how to dance on something like this", I said nodding towards the radio meaning the music it was playing.

"You don't need to know how to dance, just c'mon", she said and pulled me up. I shrugged and decided to at least follow her.

_(Jai Ho)  
You are the reason  
That I breath  
(Jai Ho)  
You are the reason  
That I still believe  
(Jai Ho)  
You are my destiny  
Jai Ho.. oh oh oh oh..  
(Jai Ho)  
No, there is nothing  
That can stop us  
(Jai Ho)  
Nothing can ever  
Come between us  
(Jai Ho)  
So come and dance with me  
Jai Ho.. ooh.._

Karin and Yuzu danced and I looked at the awkwardly. I felt stupid, really stupid. Karin rolled her eyes at me and grabbed my hands and dragged me closer.

"C'mon! Just move with the rhythm!" she said and started to sway her hips from side to side. _Might as well do it. _**_I can't believe this. Toushiro Hitsugaya, captain of the 10th division is going to dance! And not a traditional dance but this new age dancing! _**_Just shut up! You yourself have told me to loosen up a bit. _**_A bit, not lose your mind!_**

I smirked at Karin and tried to move so that my movements were on beat. I guess it didn't go that well, according to Matsumoto's expression, but Karin was right. It was fun.

The song ended soon. Even though I had enjoyed the dancing somewhat, I was also glad that it was over. Matsumoto's expression had started to worry me. Karin started to move to her seat again, but I grabbed her hand stopping her.

The song that had followed her song was a song I could dance to with much more pleasure.

Karin raised an eyebrow in question and I cocked my head and moved my hands to her hips. She smirked wildly and started to move her hips according the music. As the music sped up I spun her around and kept my hands on her hips as she continued to move them with the rhythm.

_Torero, poner el alma en el ruedo, no importa lo que se venga  
pa' que sepas que te quiero, como un buen torero, me juego la vida por ti.  
Si hay que ser torero, poner el alma en el ruedo, no importa lo que se venga  
pa' que sepas que te quiero, como un buen torero, me juego la vida por ti._

When the song ended I had tangled my left hand fingers with her right hand's and pulled her so close that our noses were touching holding my right hand in the small of her back.

Everyone who had been watching (the ones who weren't playing volleyball) started to clap.

"Captain Hitsugaya, I didn't know you were such a good dancer. Though your first dance wasn't that good", Urahara said from behind his fan. I shrugged.

"I liked the song. I've heard it before", I answered letting go of Karin's hand and she took a step back, still keeping her left hand on my shoulder as it had been when we danced.

"It was fun. Thanks", she said smiling and I shrugged starting to get a little embarrassed. _Why on earth did I do that? That's not like me at all. _**_You noticed it finally?_**

The day went by really fast. We went swimming again for a couple of times, snickered behind Ichigo's back as his huge sand castle collapsed on top of him, played volleyball against Yuzu, Jinta and Ururu, beating them easily and just relaxed.

The night comes quickly in the summer and I noticed it as we saw the sun set and the first stars started to light the sky.

"I think it's time to leave now. Otherwise we won't be ever home", Matsumoto, for once being a responsible adult, said and all of us rest agreed. The bus was quickly packed full of stuff again and we went to sit on the same places. The only difference was that Yuzu was holding Grimmjow, since the cat was sleeping.

During the ride back to Karakura many of the people zoned out and Karin fell asleep leaning on my shoulder.

The first stop was Kurosaki clinic and we had already agreed that Karin would go to her place today, since she was already completely fine and neither of us came up with a reason for her to spend another night at Orihime's. Or rather we came up with plenty of reasons, but none that Ichigo would accept.

"Hey guys! You're both sleeping! How I'm gonna get all us the stuff and you two inside?" Ichigo complained as he saw both Karin and Yuzu deep asleep.

"You carry stuff, I carry Grimmjow and then Renji and Captain Hitsugaya can bring the girls", Rukia suggested. It was clear that Ichigo didn't like her idea, but he didn't come up with an idea on his own so he finally agreed.

I lifted the sleeping raven haired girl carefully to my arms, trying my hardest not to bother her sleep. She only mumbled something unintelligent and her hand grabbed a hold of my haori.

Once I was inside the Kurosaki clinic I had to pretend I didn't know where Karin's room was, not to raise any suspicions in her brother. Rukia told she's show us (me and Renji) to the girls' rooms while Ichigo unpacked the stuff he had taken with him to the beach.

"I think you can get her to bed by yourself Captain Hitsugaya. I'll just go to bed", she said once she was sure Ichigo didn't hear anymore. I nodded and walked swiftly to her room.

I laid Karin gently on the bed and as I started to leave I noticed she was still holding my haori.

"Sorry girl, not this time. You'll have to cuddle something else", I said to her and as carefully as possible detached her hand from my haori.

"Sleep well", I whispered as I closed the door behind me.

* * *

_I'm your captain, not your toy, I am not your little boy_

_

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_

**Wow, this one was a long chapter. Longest I've ever written.**

**Sorry it took so long for me to update. I have told you that the more reviews I get the faster I update, and I really mean that. I really want to write more after reading the reviews, so you really should send them.**

**Here is a video you all should watch. It's only 17 seconds long but it's so funny! And it's a perfect theme song for Toushiro and I really mean it!**

**http:// www. youtube. com /watch?v=W4_gF7cz6BM (remove the spaces)**

**About the songs I used, both were just ideas that popped into my mind from absolutely nowhere (like most of this story) and I just decided to put them here. I don't have a single clue about what the second song's lyrics mean, so don't ask me. I just like the music in that song. If someone understands the lyrics I would really like to know what they mean in English. I hope they aren't something that doesn't fit this story at all.  
**

**Songs used: **

**Jai Ho by Pussycat Dolls**

**Torero by Chayanne**

**Song quote from Little boy by Captain Jack**

**Hugs to reviewers! Bye bye!**


	14. Strawberry after another

**Phew, managed to write chapter number 14. I'm proud of myself.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach not any of the songs used in this. All belongs to their rightful owners.**

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**Karin's POV  
**The next morning I woke up when I felt something relatively heave on my chest. I opened my eyes and stared into extremely blue eyes surrounded by white fur.

"Grimmjow? What are you doing in my room? How did you get in?" I asked the kitten sitting up. He mewled irritated as he had to move from my chest to my lap. I realized I was wearing the shorts and t-shirt I had pulled on when it had become too cold to be in bikini. _Why am I always sleeping with my clothes on?_

I checked around the room and saw that the door was open. I looked at the door and then at the kitten who was staring me.

"Either someone let you in or you're one smart kitten", I mumbled and picked him from my lap and put him on my bed. I grabbed my towel and some clean clothes and took a quick shower. The salty water of the ocean had dried in my hair and lumps of salt in my hair. _I should have washed it yesterday, stupid me!_

After the shower I went downstairs to get breakfast. Yuzu was practically running around the house.

"Hey, what's wrong Yuzu?" I asked calmly opening the fridge to check if there was anything good to eat.

"I can't find Grimmjow anywhere. I just set him on the floor for a second and then suddenly he had disappeared", she answered lifting the cushions.

"He's in my room. Probably sleeps on my bed, at least that was what he was doing when I left my room", I answered taking butter, a plate with some cucumber and tomatoes on it and a bottle of juice from the fridge. I kicked the door shut and Yuzu send a quick glare at me. She didn't like it when I kicked any doors. I rolled my eyes and put everything on the kitchen counter and started to look for some bread and a glass.

Ichigo came downstairs yawning and scratching his head, carrying Grimmjow. Yuzu spun around to look at him as she heard him mewl.

"Grimmjow! I was worried about you! You usually don't disappear like that", she said running to Ichigo and taking the kitten. He purred softly closing his eyes as Yuzu started to stroke him.

"He woke me up. Which one of you let him in my room, I'm sure the door was closed when I went to sleep", Ichigo asked. I raised my eyebrow surprised.

"He woke me up too. But he's too small to open doors on his own!" I said and looked at the kitten suspiciously. Ichigo glanced at him worriedly. Suddenly we heard giggling from the stairs. I sighed.

"Morning dad! What are you laughing about?" Yuzu asked hearing the giggling too. Our father stepped around the corner and smiled.

"Just that you two fear a kitten", he said pointing at Ichigo and me.

"I do NOT!" we both exclaimed together and Yuzu started giggling too. Grimmjow looked proud. It was pretty clear who had let him in our rooms.

Dad and Grimmjow really seemed to like each others. One day I saw dad wave a feather-thingy (Grimmjow loves that toy) for him about an hour. Grimmjow had also realized that dad was the one who would drop him some food from the table. Yuzu disapproved this, saying that Grimmjow was learning bad habits.

"How was the beach yesterday? I'm still so sad you didn't invite me too!" he said and I could tell he was just about to start crying to the huge picture on the wall.

"It was fun", I answered shortly starting to eat my sandwich. Yuzu started to explain more about what we had done, leaving out the fact I hadn't been with the group for almost the all day and the dance part.

"I'm going out", I informed after I had eaten. Dad and Ichigo just nodded and Yuzu smirked at me. _She's creepy when she smirks._

After grabbing my cap, which I liked to use when I had my hair open, from my room and taking my cell phone and iPod from the table I started walking towards the park near Orihime's place. I put the earphones to my ears and put the music to so loud that I wasn't able to hear the noises from the street anymore.

I walked quickly, stepping according to the rhythm of the music.

I had planned to just take a walk in the park and then go to Orihime's place to see if Toushiro was there, and if he was I'd go shopping with him. Yeah, I was planning to go shopping. I had lost my best and only sweatpants and needed new ones. Plus Ichigo's birthday was coming soon, so I needed a gift for him.

In the park I walked to the tree I had sat when I had ran away from Orihime's place to get out of the house for a while. I sat on the branch again and just stared to the pond. A couple of swans were swimming in the other side.

I started to sing the lyrics I was hearing from the headphones so silently that no one walking on the street could hear me.

_The daylight's fading slowly  
but time with you is standing still  
I'm waiting for you only  
The slightest touch and I'll feel weak_

_I cannot lie  
From you I cannot hide  
I'm losing the will to try  
Can't hide it (can't hide it)  
Can't fight it (can't fight it)  
So..._

_Go on, go on, come on leave me breathless  
Tempt me, tease me until I can't deny this  
loving feeling, make me long for your kiss  
Go on, go on  
Yeah, come on... _

Unfortunately (or not) I hadn't realized Shinigami seem to have better hearing than normal humans.

I felt a cool hand grab my hand and pull me closer. I almost screamed, managing to swallow the sound as it was about to leave my mouth.

"Toushiro! Don't do that! I could have fallen to the pond like last time", I said as he pulled one earphone from my ear. He chuckled.

"You think I'm so left-handed that I'd let you fall like that? C'mon Karin, you know me better than that", he said and I turned off the iPod so that I wouldn't be bothered by the music.

"Still, don't surprise me like that. I know you can move silently and all so you can announce me when you're coming. No need to impress me", I said. He smirked.

"I like to impress you. You can sing pretty well, did you know that?" he asked suddenly and I opened and closed my mouth few times, not being able to say anything.  
"You can't be embarrassed by_ that!_ You didn't blush a bit when I told you that you had a nice body and when I tell you that you can sing well you're red as a tomato and can't get a word out of your mouth", he said shaking his head. I got an urge to push him to the water. I didn't do it though; I would have fallen with him.

"I have had comments about my looks before but no one has really heard me sing. Except for Yuzu, but she would never say anything unkind", I told him still considering pushing to the pond.

"You have had comments about your looks? From who?" Toushiro asked, expression darkening a bit like he was thinking of beating those people up.

"Just from some guys in our school. They're all idiots", I said waving with my hand indicating it wasn't a big of a deal.

I noticed Toushiro wasn't in his Shinigami outfit but was wearing black jeans and a white sleeveless shirt with a black scarf and black wrist band.

"Since when have you been able to dress so well?" I asked raising an eyebrow to him. Usually when he was in his gigai her he had just some jeans or shorts and a simple t-shirt, no accessories or anything.

"Of you mean this", he said lifting the scarf. "Matsumoto insisted I'd use this. She bought it for me", he told.

"Okay. What are you doing here by the way? I thought you had to patrol around the city", I asked. He had told me that they all were here to beat the Hollows and try to figure out why were there so many of them.

"I am patrolling. I was just walking around here when I heard you singing. And that brings us to the question why are _you _here? There are parks closer to your home", he said raising an eyebrow at me. I shrugged.

"Well, I like this park the best. And I was planning to come ask you to come shopping with me. I thought it would be less annoying with you", I told him. He seemed to be surprised.

"You want to go shopping? I never thought you'd want to go shopping. Malls don't seem like an ideal environment for you", he said and the urge to push him to the pond returned.

"Didn't I say it would be less annoying with you? I'm going only because I have to. My only sweatpants were pretty much destroyed and I need a birthday present for Ichi-nii. So, can you come with me or not?" I asked.

"I don't see a reason why I couldn't. It can be patrolling when I'm shopping with you. At least Matsumoto sees shopping as patrolling. Oh, speaking of Matsumoto, she wanted me to invite you and Yuzu to Orihime's place. I have no idea why, she wouldn't tell me", Toushiro told. I was a bit surprised since she invited Yuzu too. _Can't have anything to do with Shinigami._

"Today? I can come; I need to ask Yuzu about her. But normal humans can see that huge TV thing that has the connection to Soul Society, right? Won't she wonder what on earth it is? Oh, and do you know any shops that sell good sweatpants?" I asked and he looked at me like I was stupid.

"Of course you don't, it was a stupid question. Well, let's go to look for one", I said and stood up on the branch. Toushiro stood up too and we managed to get off it without falling to the water.

"About the Yuzu being able to see the thing in Orihime's apartment, I think if Matsumoto asked her there, she already has an explanation for it", Toushiro said as we started to walk out of the park.

We headed to the part of the town where (we believed) the shops that sold clothes were. It was a warm sunny day, so every shop where we went was full of people. It was a nightmare to people who don't like shopping at all.

Finally we found a shop that sold sport wear and other not so… girly clothes.

"Do you already know what you're gonna buy for you brother?" Toushiro asked leaning on the wall while I browsed through the sweatpants to find a proper sized ones.

"Not so sure. I was gonna buy something that has something to do with music, but now I think it's too unimaginative. So now I'm not sure",I told honestly. I wanted to get him something he didn't expect.

"Get him a box of strawberries. His face would be worth seeing", Toushiro said and almost snickered. I looked at him worriedly. He never even almost snickered. _Maybe he's not alright?_

"Nah, Renji told he'll buy a box and it's not funny if two people give the same present", I told. I had overheard Renji laugh at Rukia about his idea for a present to my brother. Toushiro raised his eyebrows surprised and chuckled a bit. Suddenly he stopped and his eyes widened as he looked over my shoulder.

"Then buy something from that shop. It looks perfect", he said and started shaking a bit as he stifled his laughter. I turned around to look at what he had seen. My jaw almost hit the floor before I started howling with laughter.

"I would have never believed there was a shop called 'Strawberry heaven'", I laughed as I stared at the shop. The name was written in red and surrounded by mini strawberries. In front of the shop was a human size strawberry statue and everything inside was red and green.

"Real world sure is weird", Toushiro said shaking his head. I grabbed a pair of my size sweatpants and paid them without trying them. It wasn't so important that they'd fit perfectly, it was enough if I just had a pair.

"C'mon! That's a perfect shop!" I said and grabbed Toushiro's hand dragging him after me.

Inside the shop we stopped to look around. There were mini statues, clothes, tableware, ornaments and even some furniture. A cheerfully song was playing from the speakers of the shop.

_This is a world of dreams and reverie  
Where I felt the stars explode around me.  
A grass blade flashed with a gleam as it slashed open a moon beam  
And I stared back breathlessly as mountains of fruit tumbled out;  
I barely had the chance to shout.  
A strawberry avalanche crash over me._

"Oh. My. God. This shop can't be real", Toushiro said sweatdropping. I was having hard time believing it too. I had never heard a fan shop for a fruit.

"Maybe a t-shirt would be good. Something that he could also use", I thought. Toushiro was still standing where I had left him, staring at a strawberry plushy.

"I can buy it for you if you like it so much. Just come and help find a shirt for Ichi-nii", I said and he snapped out of his trance.

We browsed through the shirts for about fifteen minutes before we found a shirt for Ichigo. There were shirts full of strawberry prints and little hearts, but I decided they were too girly for Ichigo. There were also shirts with texts about strawberries, and the shirt we decided to buy for Ichigo was one of those.

It was a black t-shirt with a red text 'The greatest Strawberry ever!' in the front. The dot in the exclamation mark was replaced by a strawberry. The text was written like graffiti, so it wasn't a shirt Ichigo couldn't use. He just had to hope no one read the text.

"I'll take this", I said to the shop assistant behind the counter. She had blond hair with pink ends and two strawberry pins on either side of her face. They were the same kind that Yuzu had. _Maybe she knows this shop. I need to ask her that._

"Sure thing honey! Would you like to have a free keychain? They are a limited edition", she told with a bright smile. I shrugged.

"Sure, why not", I told her and she put the shirt and a small strawberry keychain into a pink bag with a huge strawberry printed on it.

"Here you go. Please come again!" she said and waved to us as we left the shop. We tried to leave us unnoticeable as possible, but still a certain someone noticed us.

"Captain! Karin! What are you doing here?" Rangiku called after us. We both froze and slowly turned around.

* * *

**Toushiro's POV**

We watched Matsumoto run to us. She was carrying a huge pile of bags of clothing. A vein popped in my forehead.

"Matsumoto. Shouldn't you be patrolling, not shopping?" I asked her. She stopped and thought for a second before smiling.

"I'm patrolling here, like you seem to be doing too", she smirked and I realized she was right. I was shopping. _Oh, great. She's never gonna forget this._

"I'm helping Karin buy a birthday present for her brother", I told and closed my eyes to calm down. Somehow I knew I'd soon be annoyed. **_I wonder how you know that._**

"That's so cute! And what a cute shop you came from!" she exclaimed and I opened my eyes to see Karin blush. It didn't fit her tomboyish attitude to go into shops like that.

"It's Ichigoish, isn't in?" Karin asked after she had managed to force her blush away. Matsumoto chuckled.

"It sure is. Did Captain already ask you to come to Orihime's place? Can you come? How about your sister? It would be so great if you both could come, so perfect", Matsumoto ranted happily and I started to get worried about the thing she was planning to do.

"I can come but I need to ask Yuzu about her. I could sent a message and ask her now", Karin told back smiling brightly, not suspecting a thing.

"That would be nice! I still need to do some shopping, so call me after you get an answer", she told and disappeared to another direction. Karin pulled her cell phone from her pocket and started to write a message to Yuzu. Out of habit I reached to take out my Soul Pager and when I realized my pocket was empty I remembered it was broken.

I sighed annoyed. It meant I'd have to pay a visit to Urahara soon, and everything he sold was just so damn expensive. Karin sent the message and looked at me.

"Something wrong?" she asked putting the phone back to her pocket. I looked at her.

"Not really, I just remembered my Soul Pager is broken and I need a new one", I told her. She looked confused for a moment.

"Soul Pager… Is that the name of your hollow detecting phone?" she asked. I simply nodded.

"Sorry about that. It is my fault it's broken… Where do you buy those things from?" she asked after staring at her feet for a moment.

"Usually from Soul Society, they're cheaper in there, but here in the real world is a shop that sells them. I think you know the shop", I said and she thought for a moment before her face brightened as she realized what I meant.

"Urahara! Of course, he _is _an ex-Shinigami. Are you going to go buy a new today?" she asked. I had been thinking of going today, since it was pretty annoying to try to work without it.

"Yeah, I guess I should. Wanna come with me, or do you have any plans?" I asked knowing perfectly well she didn't have any. She looked at me meaning she knew it too.

"Well then let's go", I smirked and we left the front of the odd strawberry shop as quickly as we were able.

The walk to the Urahara shouten was fast and funny. Karin was still laughing at the shop and I have to admit, it was a bit hilarious. But I will never go there again. _I just hope Matsumoto won't tell anyone she saw me there. No one would respect me anymore. _**_Oh, c'mon! You can scare them to respect you again. Don't forget that you're the feared kid captain of 10th division._**_ You know, that would have been a nice thing to say without the 'kid' part._

"What do you think Rangiku is planning? It's a bit odd she wanted Yuzu to come too", Karin asked me after a short silence. Yuzu had answered that she would be able to come and Karin had immediately told it to Matsumoto, who seemed to get even more excited.

"I don't have the smallest idea. Nothing too dangerous, but it could be embarrassing", I told her. I had experiences of Matsumoto's planning, though usually it involved sake. I seriously hoped it wouldn't this time. Karin and Yuzu were only 16, which means they shouldn't be drinking sake.

"Oh! Captain Hitsugaya and Karin! So wonderful to see you two! What brings you here?" Urahara suddenly exclaimed making us both jump. We hadn't realized we were so close to the shouten already.

"Hi Urahara! Hi Yoruichi!" Karin exclaimed and I noticed the black cat sipping milk next to Urahara. She lifted her head and swayed her tail in greeting.

"I need a new Soul Pager. The old one was broken by a Hollow", I told the man. He smirked behind his fan.

"Oh no~! Those things aren't cheap I'm afraid. Hopefully you can afford it", he said and a vein popped in my forehead. _I AM the captain of 10__th__ division. Of course I can afford his ridiculously high prices. _

"Urahara, do you have the katana you promised to make me? The one I could beat Hollows with?" Karin asked suddenly. I spun around to stare at her. She hadn't mentioned she had asked Urahara to make/get a katana for her.

"Ah, of course. Tessai! Could you bring Karin her katana?" he yelled and I heard Tessai start to rummage through the storage of the shouten.

"You have asked him to get you a katana? Don't tell me you plan on fighting even more Hollows?" I asked, though it sounded more like 'you're not going to fight anymore Hollows than you already are'.

"That's exactly what I'm planning. I decided that maybe I could become a Shinigami after high school, but until then I need a proper way to fight. So I asked him to make me a katana with what I can beat Hollows", she said glaring at me. That glare meant she had already made her mind up and wasn't going to discuss about this anymore.

"You really plan on becoming a Shinigami?" I asked, partly changing the subject. Karin nodded.

"What are you going to do then? Live a double life like your brother or move to Soul Society. Your brother was offered a place there but he refused claiming he wanted to stay with his family. And your dad is always welcome back to Soul Society, even if he really don't want to be a Shinigami", I said.

I knew that Karin knew about her father. He had once been a Captain in Soul Society, disappeared to real world and got rid of his powers, though they had started to come back now. At their house he was still the same person, partly for Yuzu, who didn't know anything and partly because that was just who he was.

"Dunno. If Yuzu could see Shinigami too then we could all move there, but since she doesn't it's a harder question. And I still would want to graduate, even if Yuzu could become a Shinigami too", she said. I knew I could never ask her to move to Soul Society. It would have to be her decision. But it would be very hard for her to leave Yuzu behind.

"Here's your Soul Pager. You know the price", Urahara interrupted smirking. That smirk was even scarier than his usual smirk, like he knew something we didn't. Though he probably knew a lot of things we didn't. _And that I wouldn't even want to know. _**_Why? He is a genius_**_**.**__ Simply said, he's scary as hell._

"I hope it works properly. It is so expensive that you'd better fix it for free if there are any problems", I told and handed Urahara the money.

"No worries! My products have a perfect insurance which covers anything that isn't the users fault", he told and I hoped he meant it. Just then Tessai came from the shouten carrying a katana in a sheath. It looked really much like a zanpakutou but was just a normal katana.

"Here is your sword Karin. Do you have the payment?" Urahara asked and an evil glint sparked in his eyes. Karin smirked at least as evilly as he.

"Of course. Here's the tape", she said and handed him a see-through box which had a tape inside it. _I wonder what that is. _**_Judging by their expressions it's nothing good. _**

"What was that?" I asked and Karin glanced at me smiling guiltily.

"Well, you probably remember when you sang with our band. That was the tape of it", she answered squirming under my gaze.

"Wh-what? Why? Why did he want it? And why did you give it to him?" I asked. _And why would it be worth a sword that can kill Hollows? _**_Maybe your singing is so good. _**_Maybe not._

"I gave it to him because he promised he wouldn't show it to anyone outside his shouten and I needed the sword. And why are you so shocked, you sing well!" she said getting a bit defensive. I glared at the smirking Urahara and scooped and arm over her shoulders.

"Hey, I'm not angry. Well, not at you. Where did you get the tape from?" I asked her. I saw neither his brother nor father use any video camera.

"Rangiku gave it to me. She told she wanted to spread some joy. And she thought it was a good idea that I had a sword", she told me.

"MATSUMOTO!" I yelled.

* * *

**On the other side of the town**

"Hmm, that sounded like someone called me. Must have imagined it", a busty Shinigami shrugged and went back to her shopping.

* * *

**Back at Urahara shouten**

"Warn me next time before you yell", Karin said holding her ears and glaring at me. I smiled apologetically.

"Yes, Captain Hitsugaya, that would be an excellent idea", Urahara said poking his ear to check if it still worked. **_You yell loudly. It echoes here! Gives me a headache_**_._

"Karin, about that sword. It's made so that people without enough reiatsu can't see it so you can carry it around without having to think about looking funny", Urahara noted and Karin's smile grew even more.

"That's good. I was just thinking about how I could carry it around so that people wouldn't see it", she said and strapped the sword to her back.

"Thanks again Urahara! And remember not to show the tape to anyone outside your shop", Karin yelled as she waved at Urahara when we were walking away from the shouten. She turned to look in front of her and stretched her arms above her head.

"I hope we'll meet some Hollows! It would be fun to test the sword!" she said and looked around sharply. _I hope the Hollows will stay away today. _**_Oh c'mon! Don't be so protective! She knows how to fight and now she even has a sword! _**_That's just it. When she sees how strong she is, she can get overconfident and then get hurt._

Thankfully, we neither saw not felt any Hollows anywhere and Karin didn't get a chance to try her new sword. When we arrived at Orihime's, I glanced at her over my shoulder.

"You're coming now? Don't you need to stop at your place?" I asked. She shrugged.

"Why would I need to do that? I don't need to pick up anything and I don't see a reason to change my clothes. And I think my katana and Ichi-nii's present are safe here", she said and I had to admit she had a point.

Just when I was about to open the door it practically flew open. I pulled Karin away and the door missed my head by just millimeters.

"Captain! You're here! Yuzu has already arrived so we can start our party! Huh… Why are you sitting on the floor", she said looking down at us. I was still holding Karin tightly to my chest with one arm and was holding myself up with another. I glared at her.

"You almost hit us with the door", I growled at her and loosened the arm around Karin a bit. She turned her head, but didn't have room to move anymore. Yuzu peeked around the door to look what was taking so long. She sighed a long *aww* when she saw us.

_What's with the females and the *aww* noises?_

"Sorry, you were just taking so long at the door. We heard you talking", she said, still not doing a movement to help us up.

I released my hold of Karin and stood up, helping her at the same time. I knew Karin didn't want to be helpless, but at least in Soul Society chivalry isn't dead.

"This 'party' better not be like your usual parties", I said walking inside. I carefully checked, but didn't see any sake bottles around.

"Of course not! I know that Karin and Yuzu aren't allowed to drink, I'm not stupid!" she said pouting. I took the bag from 'Strawberry heaven' that Karin was holding and held my other hand for her sword. With a sigh she quickly took it off her back and handed to me.

"Where did you get your sword from?" Yuzu asked suddenly. Both me and Karin froze and slowly turned to look at her. She was looking straight at the sword.

"You can see it?" Karin asked quietly. Matsumoto smiled behind the small blonde girl before disappearing somewhere.

"Of course I can. As easily as I can see Hollows and Shinigami", she said and I swear Karin's jaw was near hitting the floor. I was surprised by the fact that she could see Shinigami, so Karin should be completely taken off guard, since she has been living with the other girl.

"Since when?" I asked because Karin didn't seem to be able to get a word out of her mouth. Yuzu thought for a moment.

"I've been able to see clearly for about six months. I was buying stuff from Urahara's when I saw nii-chan run away from the shouten in a black kimono. I asked Jinta what was that about and he took me to Urahara who explained everything. After that I've been watching you and nii-chan to see if you realize I know everything", she said. Karin was opening and closing her mouth, but no sound came out.

**_Seems like the whole Kurosaki family can see Shinigami, two of them even are Shinigami. They would be safer in Soul Society_**_**.**__ Karin wants to graduate first. I'm going to honor her decision._

"Oh, and I also know Toushiro is a Shinigami. I've seen him sneaking in your window really often. Does nii-chan know about that?" she asked and Karin's brain finally seemed to catch up with the situation.

"No, he knows nothing about that. Though there has been few close calls", she smirked. _Wow, she seems to take it well after the first shock. _**_I'm proud of her!_**_ Hyorinmaru, there is a line after which your statements start to be creepy._

"Oi you three! C'mon in already! Yea, yea, Yuzu knows about Shinigami, big deal!" Renji yelled from the kitchen. I raised my eyebrows as we walked to the kitchen. Besides Renji and Matsumoto there were also Tatsuki, Orihime and Ishida.

"Who else is invited to this party thing?" I asked Matsumoto who was doing something in the living room. That something included a lot of electronic stuff.

"You're the last ones. Chad couldn't come and Rukia is keeping Ichigo away", Renji answered for her. Karin glanced at Matsumoto's work and swallowed.

"You can't be serious! Karaoke?" she said staring at all the electronic stuff. Now I was able to see the microphones and piles of discs on the floor.

"Matsumoto. Don't tell me you expect me to sing too? And I need to talk to you about 'spreading joy' to Urahara", I growled at her. She glanced over her shoulder and chuckled nervously.

"Oh, the tape… I thought he'd find it inspiring", she said and pulled some wires which seemed to be tied non-untieable. Ishida and Renji went to help her and Orihime continued making the snacks. _Mental note: do not eat any snacks._

"Inspiring is a great word. Just what do you think he'll be inspired to do?" I asked smiling annoyed. Karin and Yuzu moved to kitchen to check what Orihime was doing and asking if they could help. _Mental note: at least taste the snacks._

"Captain, you know he would have gotten his hands on the tape no matter what I did. Isn't it better that he at least made a promise not to show it to everybody", Matsumoto whined, trying to get off the hook.

"I assume you have copies of the tape. I need to have them all. No one in Soul Society will see the show", I said to her and stretched my hand forward.

"But Captain! You were so cute when you were singing! Please, don't take the tapes", she whined, pouting. I cocked my head still glaring at her. She sighed deeply, went to her room and returned with three tapes.

"There better not be more copies", I said to her and took the tapes to my room, hiding them well. When I returned Renji and Ishida had managed to get the karaoke stuff ready and were browsing through the discs.

"Do you plan on singing?" Karin asked coming from behind me. I almost jumped, because I didn't hear her footsteps. She looked at me smirking.

"I surprised you! That doesn't happen very often", she said and I fought the urge to stuck my tongue at her. She was brining the childish side of me to the surface.

"You should definitely sing! You have such a great voice. You could sing a duet with Karin", Yuzu suggested joining her twin. Karin turned to look at her shocked and I smirked.

"That sounds like a good idea. But I want to hear her singing by herself first", I said smirking at her as she spun around to stare at me. She squinted her eyes.

"In that case, you need to also sing by yourself", she said leaning so close that I was able to fee her warm breath as she said the words. She was wearing a black baseball cap which created uraharaish shadows to her face.

"Take this off, I like to see your eyes", I said and took the cap off for her.

"Hey, give it back!" she exclaimed reaching after the cap. I lifted the cap high above her head, so that she wasn't able to reach it. She rose to her tiptoes, but I had expected that and did so too.

"You're sure having fun. Everybody else is taller than you so you tease the only person shorter", Renji laughed from the living room as he put a disc inside the karaoke machine. Seemed like he had chosen a song for himself.

"Abarai", I growled a warning. It really seemed like we had been in real word way too long and he had started to forget who I was.

"Sorry, Captain Hitsugaya", he said almost right away and took the mic, ready to sing.

Karin took advantage of the distraction and tackled me to the floor. I let out an *oof* noise as the air escaped from my lungs as Karin fell on top of me. She reached for the cap again, this time managing to get it.

"Yes! I win!" she laughed, not realizing she had moved so that her breasts were literally in my face. I think I've never been that red.

"Karin… I think you should get up. That isn't the best position to be in", Yuzu giggled to us. Karin moved obviously realizing what Yuzu meant.

"I'm so sorry Toushiro! I… I don't really know what to say", she mumbled, face red as tomato. Of course, everyone in the apartment had come to look what had happened when I fell to the floor and I was able to see everyone (including Orihime) smirk widely. Renji was snickering and missed the beginning of his song.

"Argh, now I'll have to restart it!" he said and ran back to the karaoke machine.

Karin stood up and reached her hand to me. She pulled me up and looked away, clearly very embarrassed. I wasn't sure what to say either.

_Should I say I liked it? Or would that sound way too perverted? Or should I say I'm used to it, referring to Matsumoto? Hyorinmaru, I need help! _**_Hey, don't ask me. I haven't been a situation like that! _**_Great, you give advice when I don't need it and when I do, you don't have anything to say._

"Stupid me!" Karin growled and hit her head with her fist. I looked at her confusedly.

"What is it? You don't need to hit yourself", I asked and tried to make eye-contact with her.

"I'm just so stupid! I didn't realize I'd make you feel uncomfortable, or that I'd lay on top of your face", she said and avoided my eyes. I sighed a small laugh.

"Karin, don't worry. It wasn't anything serious, nor was it anything bad", I said and she finally turned to look at me. Her cheeks were still a bit red, but were returning to her normal tanned color. She raised her eyebrows and smirked.

"'It wasn't anything bad' you say. You are a little pervert, aren't you", she said and I heard Renji and Matsumoto stifled laughter from the living room.

"You really don't need to eavesdrop on every single conversation we have", I said loudly enough that they surely heard it. I heard quick movement and the music of Renji's song started again.

_There you go  
You're always so right  
It's all a big show  
it's all about you  
You think you know  
What everyone needs  
You always take time to criticize me_

_It seems like every day  
I make mistakes  
I just can't get it right  
It's like I'm the one  
You love to hate  
But not today..._

_So shut up, shut up, shut up  
Don't wanna hear it  
Get out, get out, get out  
Get out of my way  
Step up, step up, step up  
You'll never stop me  
Nothing you say today  
Is gonna bring me down_

"Hmm, seems like he's dedicating this to Kuchiki", I thought out loud. Karin raised an eyebrow quizzically as we moved to sit on the couch.

"He doesn't really like his captain, Kuchiki Byakuya, or the guy with pink sword as you know him. Though nowadays their relationship is better, but Abarai still sees him as his rival", I explained, even though I was sure Karin had heard something about it from her brother.

"Right, he wanted to become stronger for Rukia… I don't really understand it. Does he love her?" she asked quietly enough so that Renji didn't hear her.

"I've heard they grew up together, so they're really close. But I think they're like me and Momo, they see each other as siblings", I told. It was usual for kids in Rukongai to think about the person who they grew up with as a sibling. Sometimes they fell in love though, but the sibling like feeling was more usual.

"Is this Momo the girl who is like your sister? You mentioned her often, but you're never told me her name", Karin asked. I thought about our talks about my past for a while and realized I really had never mentioned her name.

"Yes, she is. I think you'd like her if you two met. She's a bit like Yuzu, same kind of kindness and caring for others. She's the vice-captain of the 5th division. That was Aizen's division, though now the spot of Captain of the division has been offered to your brother. I think he'll make a fine captain once he gets his temper in control", I told. Karin chuckled.

"Karin, you sing now. I already picked a song for you!" Yuzu exclaimed from the karaoke machine offering a mic to Karin. She stood up and took the mic.

"Well, let's hear it", she smirked. Ishida pushed the play button. The lyrics appeared on the screen in front of Karin and she smirked, lifting her eyes. It seemed like she didn't need the screen. She started to sing almost immediately when the song started.

_Here's to the ones who don't give up  
Here's to the ones who don't give up  
Here's to the ones who don't give up  
This is your anthem  
Get your hands up_

_We are fire inside  
We are lipstick and cleats  
We are not going home  
And we are playin for keeps  
We are girls who skin knees  
We are concrete and grace  
We are not what you think  
Can't keep us in our place_

_Here's to the girls on their boards with bruises and scars  
Here's to the girls whose fingers bleed from playing guitar  
Here's to anyone who never quit when things got hard  
You'll never let them say  
"You'll never get that far."  
"Never get that far."  
"Never get that far."_

_We are fire inside  
We are an army asleep  
We are a people awaking to follow their dreams  
We don't have time for your games  
We have our own goals to score  
There are trophies to win  
Instead of being one of yours_

I had heard Karin sing before, but when she was performing to an audience she seemed to sing even better. She really got into the song and let her eyes wander the room until they stopped at me for a moment. Then she closed them again, concentrating only on singing.

"Wow, you really are a good singer kid! I never would have believed that from a sister of the Strawberry", Renji said staring at her eyes wide. Karin looked at him almost bored and surprised at the same time.

"Have you ever heard Ichi-nii sing? He has a really nice voice! I think he's a better singer than me!" she said and Renji raised his eyebrows so high that if he had had any hair on his forehead they would have disappeared.

_I don't believe that Kurosaki is a better singer. _**_Of course you don't, you're not in love with him_**_._ _Once again you're stating facts.  
_

Karin walked back to sit next to me with a big smile on her face.

"I love that song! Brings out my tomboy pride!" she laughed and kissed my cheek quickly. Matsumoto turned to look at me.

"C'mon Captain! It's your turn! You promised to Karin!" she said. I looked at the list of songs Matsumoto had put on the table and one hit my eye.

"Ishida, put track number 15. I think I'll sing that", I said and took the microphone from Matsumoto, who was holding it for me. The music started quick and I started to sing right on time.

_She's got tattoos, and piercings  
She likes Minor Threat she likes Social Distortion  
My girl's a hot girl  
A hood rat who needs an attitude adjustment_

_Christina, wouldn't wanna meet her  
She hates you Britney so you better run for cover  
My girl's a hot girl, a riot girl and she's angry at the world_

_Emergency call 911  
She's pissed off at everyone  
Police rescue, FBI  
She wants a riot, she wants a riot_

_And everywhere we go, she gets us thrown out constantly  
But that's okay  
'Cuz I know, I know, I know my baby would do anything for me  
Yeah_

_Christina, wouldn't wanna meet her  
She hates you Britney so you better run for cover  
My girl's a hot girl, a riot girl and she's taking on the world_

_I said_

_Emergency call 911  
She's pissed off at everyone  
Police rescue, FBI  
She wants a riot, she wants a riot_

I stared only at Karin while I sang, smirking for most of the time. Of course I had to occasionally glance at the lyrics so I knew what I needed to sing, but otherwise my eyes were on her.

When I stopped singing everyone was smiling and/or smirking. I sat down next to Karin and she smirked at me raising her eyebrows.

"So, I'm your riot girl?" she asked and I smirked back.

"Well of course! At least I could never describe you as a kind and calm girl. You do what you want and you say what you want", I told her. She started into my eyes curiously, like she was trying to read something from my mind.

"Thank you Toushiro. That was sweet", she said and grabbed the hair on the back of my neck pulling my mouth to hers. This was the first time she had kissed me when we knew people saw us (somehow usually when we kissed someone managed to wander to the place to see us).

My eyes widened and I was trying to ask her something (I really don't have the slightest clue what) but she pushed me down on the couch and crawled on top of me. I forgot everyone else in the room and put my other hand on the small of her back on other on the back of her head kissing back.

Just when I licked her lower lip we heard several someones clear their throats. Karin lifted her face and turned to look at Matsumoto, Renji, Tatsuki and Yuzu (Orihime and Ishida were in the kitchen to get more drinks) who were all smirking at us, though Yuzu was also blushing brightly red.

"Right… we're not alone", Karin mumbled and rose up. I sat up on the couch too and glared at Matsumoto who seemed to be just staring to *aww*.

I don't like the *aww* at all.

"You forgot we were in the room? Man, captain Hitsugaya seems to have the ability to make her forget pretty important things", Renji chuckled. Karin rolled her eyes and looked at Tatsuki.

"Who will be singing next?" she asked. Matsumoto looked at Renji raising an eyebrow and Renji nodded. I squinted my eyes suspiciously.

"No one will get a video camera, is that clear?" I said and glared at the duo. They both smiled innocently, which is something Renji really don't know how to do.

"Could you sing your duet now? I mean you did agree to it earlier", Orihime said returning to the living room, carrying a huge tray full of glasses. Karin and I looked at each other before she shrugged.

"Okay, why not. We'll have to sing it at some point so why not now", she said and stood up taking the microphone from the table. I stood up too and caught the other mic Renji threw at me.

"I picked a song for you already, I'm sure it's perfect!" Rangiku said and picked track 17 for us. She pushed the play button and a bit slow music started to play from the speakers. On the screen blue words appeared, indicating I was the one who'd start singing. Neither I nor Karin heard the small noise of a electronic machine being turned on.

_She was like  
April sky  
Sunrise in her eyes  
Child of light  
Shining star  
Fire in her heart  
Brightest day  
Melting snow  
Breaking through the chill  
October and April_

I looked deep into Karin's dark blue eyes and realized how the lyrics really were describing her. She seemed to be a bit surprised as she realized it too. She glanced at the screen and realized that the red lyrics for her to sing had already appeared.

_He was like  
Frozen sky  
In October night  
Darkest cloud  
In the storm  
Raining from his heart  
Coldest moon  
Deepest blue  
Tearing down the spring  
October and April_

Those lyrics were perfect to describe me, anyone could agree with that. Karin stared in my eyes and sang the words that they sounded almost like they were coming straight from her heart. I heard Yuzu sniffling as she started to cry. _We don't sing that well, do we?_ We sang the chorus together, not breaking the eye-contact for other reason than to check the lyrics.

_Like hate and love  
Worlds apart  
This fatal love was like poison right from the start  
Like light and dark  
Worlds apart  
This fatal love was like poison right from the start_

_Worlds apart. That's something we truly are. She's a human and I'm a Shinigami. But she's Karin_. In her eyes I saw that she thought about the same things.

_We were like  
Loaded guns  
Sacrificed our lives_

I sang closing my eyes for a moment.

_We were like  
Love undone  
Craving to entwine_

She continued and I opened my eyes to look into her flaming ones.

_Fatal touch  
Final thrill  
Love was bound to kill  
October and April_

We sand together slowly walking towards each other.

_Like hate and love  
Worlds apart  
This fatal love was like poison right from the start  
Like light and dark  
Worlds apart  
This fatal love was like poison right from the start_

We were finally so close to each other that when we lifted our hands we were able to entwine our fingers. We didn't break the eye-contact anymore.

_Hate and love  
Worlds apart  
This fatal love was like poison right from the start  
Light and dark  
Worlds apart  
This fatal love was like poison right from the start_

_October and April  
October and April  
October and April_

The song ended and I wrapped my free arm around Karin's waist and pulled her closer. We stared each other deep in the eyes for a moment before I kissed her. The kiss was the most passionate, the gentlest, most loving kiss we had ever shared. When we pulled apart I saw from the corner of my eye how tears were running down Yuzu's face.

"My my, Captain Hitsugaya, I didn't know you could sing so well", a familiar, old voice said. I spun around keeping Karin behind my back. Once I saw who had spoken I relaxed but also got more confused.

"Captain-Commander Yamamoto", I greeted. "How long has the connection been on?" I asked carefully. I didn't see anyone behind him, but the room was big so it was possible someone was there. Karin peeked around my back to see the man both me and Ichigo had told about.

"Since the beginning of the song. Who might this young lady be?" he asked gesturing towards Karin. She stepped to my side.

"I'm Kurosaki Karin. And before you ask, yes Ichigo is my brother", she said confidently and the Captain-Commander opened one eye to look at her.

"I can see. You have the same attitude as him. The same determination in your eyes", he said and to me Karin looked a bit proud. She should be. It was Captain-Commander who was telling her a compliment (yes, that was a compliment).

"But Captain Hitsugaya, I'm glad Matsumoto opened the connection. I was going to ask you to come to Soul Society as soon as possible. It's nothing serious, we just need to have all of the captains for few meetings", he told. I nodded. I had been expecting being called to Soul Society soon.

"Excuse me gramps, could I come too", Karin asked. I froze as I heard her calling Captain-Commander gramps, but the man just laughed.

"Of course, I think that will keep Captain Hitsugaya's concentration on things it should be a little better", he said and Karin beamed with happiness.

"Thank you so much! I've been waiting for a chance to visit Soul Society", she said and bowed a bit.

"My pleasure young lady. You just need to use Urahara's gate to get here, since you aren't a soul", Yamamoto told and we both nodded. The connection went off and Karin was practically jumping.

"Finally! I've been waiting for this", she said smiling at me. I sighed smiling too.

"You need to tell something to Ichigo. And someone needs to take his present to your clinic", I said her. Yuzu stood up. She had wiped her eyes and was smiling brightly now.

"I can take care of the gift, but you have to tell nii-chan yourself", she said. Karin shrugged.

"Not a big deal. Wait a sec", she said and took her cell phone. She hit a speed dial and lifted the phone to her ear.

"Ichi-nii, it's Karin here. No, I'm okay. I just called to tell that I'm going to Soul Society. And no, I'm not dead. You won't be seeing me for a while. Bye bye~", she spoke quickly and clapped the phone shut.

"Okay, now he knows. But we need to hurry to the gate. I hope it doesn't take eternity to open", she said and stuck the phone to her pocket.

"No, now that it's connected to official gates it should open in a minute. Just grab your sword and were ready to go", I told and she spun around to get her sword form my room.

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_Ok, hello, welcome to the world _

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**That's it this time. Next time Karin and Toushiro will go to Soul Society and the actual plot part of my story can begin.**

**Songs used: Breathless by the Corrs**

** Strawberry avalanche by Owl City**

** Shut up by Simple plan**

** Anthem by Superchick**

** Riot Girl by Good Charlotte**

** October and April by The Rasmus**

**Song quote: Welcome to the world by Kevin Rudolpf  
**

**I really loved writing the part where Toushiro and Karin sang October and April. The song is just like written to them.**

**And about my last chapter, as omnipotent Porunga reminded me, Jai Ho is originally sang by A. and Pussycat dolls just made a remix. Sorry for the mistake!  
**

**I hope you liked it and if you did, please review. Reviews mean really much to me. Even an 'update soon' makes me smile. To me it means people like the story!**

**A big hug to all of you!**


	15. Nicknames

**Chapter 15 is here! Read if you dare!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, if I did, it'd be full of HitsuKarin, Toushiro being the main character instead of Ichigo  
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**50 kilometers south from Karakura town**

Ichigo stood in the middle of the street and started at his cell phone.

"Oi, Ichigo, are you alright?" Rukia asked him. He just blinked a few times, but Rukia felt his reiatsu starting to build up.

"Karin is going to Soul Society… Why is she going if she isn't dead…? Who is going with her…?" he mumbled to himself and Rukia immediately realized the situation.

"She's close with Matsumoto… but not enough. She knows also Renji, but I doubt he would ever take her to Soul Society. That leaves Toushiro. THAT BRAT IS TAKING HER TO SOUL SOCIETY!" he roared. Rukia looked around trying to spot something she could use to knock him out.

"But why would Toushiro take her to Soul Society. Sure they're friends, but… He wants to take her away from me so that he can have his way with her!" he shouted and brought his hand to the substitute Shinigami badge and jumped out of his body. Rukia sweatdropped. _Why is my boyfriend so damn stupid?_

Other people, who had turned to stare at Ichigo when he had yelled now rushed to see if he was okay, since his body had just fallen empty to the ground.

"Hey girl, isn't he your boyfriend? Shouldn't you be worried about him?" a tanned man asked Rukia tapping her shoulder. She sighed defeated.

"His okay, he has unstable blood pressure, so he faints easily", she lied and moved through the crowd surrounding Ichigo's body.

"Excuse me; I know how to handle him. Could someone help me carry this idiot to those trees", she asked looking around until she noticed a really muscular, about two meters tall man.

"You there, could you lift him?" she asked pointing at the man. He shrugged and swung Ichigo's body over his shoulder and followed Rukia, who showed him where she wanted him to put Ichigo.

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**Back at Inoue's apartment, Karin's POV**

I grabbed my sword from Toushiro's room, tied it to my back with a sash attached to it and ran back to the living room. Toushiro was staring out of the window, eyebrows pressed together, arms crossed over his chest. He had already left his gigai.

"Your brother is heading this way pretty quickly. I already sent a message to Urahara, so the gate should be open when we get there. Are you ready to go?" he asked turning to look at me. I checked myself. I was wearing my favorite loose denim shorts and a tight black top. The outfit was comfortable and I figured that Toushiro would borrow me some of his clothes when mine got dirty.

Suddenly I realized I had no idea how long we were going to stay in Soul Society. I shrugged it off deciding it didn't matter; it was summer vacation and my soccer team could handle themselves without me. Soul Society could beat soccer any day!

"I guess I am. Let's go before Ichi-nii gets here", I said, feeling the quickly approaching reiatsu. Toushiro opened his arms and I wrapped my arms around his neck as he lifted me up, feeling a bit self-conscious since every single pair of eyes in the room was aimed at us.

"Please, don't let him get into Soul Society. I don't want him wrecking my division", Toushiro said over his shoulder, mostly to Matsumoto and Renji. They both nodded solemnly.

I waved at Yuzu who waved back with a big smile. Then Toushiro was out of an open window (not breaking it) and shunpoing through the town to Urahara shouten. When we arrived at the shouten Tessai was already waiting for us outside it.

"Owner is in the basement. The gate should be open now", he said and escorted us through the shouten to the huge basement. The first time I had visited there I wasn't able to believe it. What kind of crazy person would manage to build a huge ass secret training area under a shouten? Urahara, that is the answer.

"Ah, Captain Hitsugaya, Karin, you're right on time. I just managed to get the gate open. You do now you need to run through the Severed world, don't you? Since Karin doesn't happen to be Shinigami", he turned to look at us. I nodded. I had heard about the world between real world and Soul Society from Ichigo.

Toushiro however glanced at me, worried look on his face. I pretty much guessed what he was thinking about and scowled.

"I'll run. You don't need to carry me. I'm fast enough", I told him straight. He's eyes were still on me and I was able to feel the worry he felt.

"Toushiro… You know I can do it. C'mon, let me show you I can!" I told him almost angrily. He sighed defeated.

"If the Janitor comes, I'll carry you. Otherwise you're free to run", he said and I had the urge to start jumping around and cheer. I didn't do it though.

"You'd better go now, or I won't be able to close the gate before Ichigo gets here", Urahara said and we both nodded. He hit the huge frames with his cane and it made a loud electric sound before opening.

"Here we go", Toushiro said and we jumped in the gate. Right after we had entered the gate I noticed we were in a dark world with purple walls that started crashing down.

"C'mon Karin, no time for sightseeing! Start running!" Toushiro yelled and grabbed my hand starting to run along the way between the purple walls. As we ran forward the walls collapsed behind us. We didn't need to run at full speed though, the collapsing wasn't that fast.

Toushiro let go of my hand so that I was able to run easier. Soon we saw light in front of us and once we went through there I saw no more purple walls.

Instead we were standing on a high rocky hill where I was able to see a huge city with white buildings and a white wall. Behind the wall was a little bit poorer looking area with forests and fields.

"Welcome to Soul Society. We're now on Sokyoku hill. I think Ichigo should have mentioned this place to you once or twice", Toushiro told. I looked around and spotted the broken cross and a white tower which Ichigo had mentioned when he told about the time when he came to Soul Society to save Rukia.

"It's higher than I imagined. And Seireitei is also bigger. And brighter. It's much more beautiful here than I thought", I said gazing to the horizon to the green forest and fields.

"Captain Hitsugaya! Captain Yamamoto told me you'd be coming back soon!" a gentle male voice called behind us. I turned around to look at a tall man with long white hair. I noticed he had a haori meaning he was a captain.

"Hello Ukitake. I'm here for the captains' meetings", Toushiro greeted the man. He smiled kindly at him and eyed at me curiously.

"Captain Yamamoto mentioned you'd be bringing a quest. You look oddly familiar. Have we ever met?" he asked from me. I smirked.

"We haven't met, but I'm sure you know my brother. I'm Kurosaki Karin", I told him. His eyes widened for a mere second before his calm smile was back.

"So you're Kurosaki Ichigo's sister. I never thought he'd had siblings. It's a pleasure to meet you Karin, I'm Ukitake Juushiro, captain of the 13th Division", he said and reached his hand towards me. His brown eyes were literally shining with warmth. _He sure is a nice person._ I shook his hand. When I let go he turned back to Toushiro.

"One reason I came here to greet you was because I found this small bag of candy from my room! Please enjoy!" he said and gave Toushiro a bag of candy which was almost as tall as he was. I stared at the bag in awe and confusion and didn't notice the other captain disappear.

"Why always me?" Toushiro grunted as he set the bag on the ground.

"He sure was different than I expected the other captains to be like", I said looking at where he had been. I only saw the rocky surface of the hill and white trees farther away. Everything was so different from real world.

"What do you mean by that?" Toushiro asked swinging the candy bag over his shoulder before turning to look at me with a slightly confused face.

"I kinda imagined that they'd all be like older versions of you. You know, captainish. He only looked like an older version of you", I said nodding towards the way I assumed the white haired man had disappeared. Toushiro chuckled.

"I have to act more mature or no one will take me seriously. To everyone here I am a child", he said. I rolled my eyes. He was child to everyone in the real world too, and he probably knew that.

"What are you going to do with the candy? Why did he give it to you anyway?" I asked glancing at the huge bag. Not many people knew about it, but I just loved candy.

"I don't know, maybe I'll give it to Yachiru. And Ukitake told me he gives me candy because... well because we have the same hair color", he said and I knew immediately he didn't tell me everything. Like he was embarrassed of the reason.

"Where am I staying while I'm here?" I asked changing the subject, though deciding to find out what Toushiro was hiding. _That can be done later._

"At my Division of course. My place is almost next to my office, so that could be the best place", Toushiro said. I had to control myself to prevent my cheeks from turning red. Somehow the idea of staying at his place made me embarrassed even though he had often stayed at my place. Heck, we had even slept in the same bed.

Maybe it was the fact that now everyone would probably know. According to what I had heard from Matsumoto, nothing was a secret in Soul Society (though it seemed like she was the one who always spread the rumors around).

"This bag is going to be a problem. It's gonna be hard to carry it and you at the same time", he mumbled. He turned to look at Seireitei below us and didn't see the small Shinigami girl who approached us from the other direction. I noticed her and cocked my head curiously.

"Hi Shiro-chan! Captain Ukitake told you're back", she greeted and Toushiro tensed visibly. I had to swallow a chuckle.

"Mo-Momo?" he asked and turned slowly around to look at the girl. She waved at him smiling kindly. She had black hair and beautiful warm brown eyes. Her hair was in a bun in the back of her head, covered with a light blue cloth. She looked about my age, but I guessed she was closer to Toushiro's.

"Yep. Who is this?" she asked turning to smile at me. A grin had appeared on my face. _Shiro-chan, eh? Sounds perfect. _Toushiro clearly knew what my expression meant, because he rolled his eyes before answering.

"This is my girlfriend Kurosaki Karin", he said waving a hand in my direction. He didn't need to do it though, because the girl was already looking at me. I was surprised and happy that he had introduced me as his girlfriend, though I didn't let my feelings to show on my face. I was still to amused by the nickname the black haired girl had used.

"Girlfriend? It's about time!" she asked sounding happily surprised. She quickly glanced at Toushiro, who shrugged and nodded. She looked back at me and walked closer.

"It's nice to meet you! I'm Hinamori Momo, Shiro-chan's childhood friend", she introduced herself. My brains immediately connected the name to everything Toushiro had told about the girl he grew up with. At least from the first look she seemed to be everything he had told.

"Ah! Shiro-chan has told a lot about you!" I told her, using her nickname for Toushiro. He groaned annoyedly, rubbing his forehead with his hand.

"He has? That's so nice, Shiro-chan! By the way, do you have any relation between Kurosaki Ichigo? I mean, since you both are Kurosakis", she asked. I had assumed I would be asked this a lot while I was in Soul Society. It seemed like everyone here knew my brother.

"He's my older brother", I told and Momo nodded a bit surprised, and scanned my face, obviously looking for features I shared with Ichigo.

"You look a bit like him. But not in a bad way!" she quickly added and I chuckled. I didn't bother me when I was told I looked like a boy.

"No worries. I know that I look like him. I've heard we have the same kind of eyebrows", I said and tried to make an Ichigo-like expression, aka a scowl. Momo chuckled and I heard Toushiro coughing to cover his laughter.

"So, how long are you going to stay here Karin?" Momo asked me. I shrugged and looked at Toushiro, since he was the reason we were here.

"We're as long as I'm needed for the captains' meetings", he told. _Yeah, helps a lot._ I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Hey, don't look at me! I don't know how long I have to be here! You need to ask Captain-Commander", he said and I sighed rolling my eyes.

"I'll ask him the next time I see him", I said sarcastically. I didn't think I would meet the old man often while I was in Soul Society.

"You might be invited to a captains' meeting. Especially because you could become a pretty strong Shinigami one day", he told me. I looked at him surprised. He seemed to be serious.

"It's possible. Your brother is strong and you have a reiatsu like his. So I wouldn't be surprised if you'd become a vice-Captain when you are a Shinigami. Maybe even Captain, though vice-captain is more likely", he told. I was suddenly very proud of myself and my family.

"Shiro-chan, do you need help with the candy bag? It seems like a big one?" Momo asked and Toushiro shot a grateful glance at her.

"That would help so much! Karin doesn't know how to shunpo yet, so I'll have to carry her to our Division's barracks", he said and swung the bag down from his shoulder. _Why did he bother to lift it there?_ Momo grabbed the bag and turned to wait for us. Toushiro shunpoed to me (as if that was necessary. I was standing closer than five meters!) and lifted me to his arms almost as quickly.

"I'll show you around once we leave the candy bag and I check my Division. Now you won't be able to see very much of the Seireitei", he said before shunpoing away from the hill. I felt the warm reiatsu of Momo just behind us.

While we ran I tried to look around myself, but the speed made it a bit hard. In mere seconds Toushiro stopped in front of a building with the kanji 'ten' above it. Like all of the other building in Soul Society, it was like an old Japanese house.

"Let's just drop your sword to my office, otherwise a certain captain of 11th Division might want to fight with you since you're Ichigo's sister", he said opening the door. I looked around the office curiously. It was pretty plain, just common office stuff and a couple of couches. On the table was a huge pile of papers.

"That's a lot of paperwork. Why is it on your table if you weren't in here?" I asked curiously. Toushiro was staring at the table, eye twitching in annoyance.

"Because Matsumoto teaches bad habits to my third seat. That guy should have done all the paperwork", he growled. _Poor third seat –guy._ The door on the other side of the room opened and a dark haired Shinigami entered carrying another pile of papers.

He didn't see us from behind the paper pile and just walked past us. I really wonder how he missed the fact the room temperature dropped by at least ten degrees. After he had put the pile down and turned to leave the room he noticed us, or rather he noticed Toushiro.

"Captain! You're already back! Weren't you going to stay much longer?" he asked backing slowly towards the door, staring to sweat. I was practically able to feel the cold air radiating from Toushiro, and his hair started to sway with the cold breeze he was creating, eyes glowed brighter than usually.

"Why were you carrying more paperwork to my desk? Didn't I tell you that you'd be in charge of the paperwork while I and Matsumoto were in the real world?" Toushiro asked voice as cold as ice.

"Vice-captain Matsumoto told me that I could bring some of the paperwork to wait for your return. I thought you had told her so", he said stuttering a bit and still backing away. Toushiro raised an eyebrow cocking his head. It didn't make him look less angry though.

"And you actually believed that? Don't you find it a bit uncharacteric for me to want MORE PAPERWORK?" Toushiro asked and the man was only able to squeak in the corner. It was amusing, but I also pitied the man a bit.

"Toushiro, let it go. He'll do the paperwork, right?" I shot a quick almost glare at the man and he started to nod. Though he shot a confused glance at me before answering.

"Yes, yes, I'll just go to do it now!" he said and disappeared so fast I wasn't able to see. Momo giggled entering the office behind us. She put the candy bag beside the desk.

"I would love to talk more with you Karin, but I have to go. I need to do my paperwork before it starts piling up like that", she said hugging me quickly. In the next second she was gone. _I really need to learn how to shunpo! Everyone in here does that!_

I took my sword off my back.

"Where do I leave this? Do you have a special place for swords or do I just put it somewhere?" I asked waving it around. Toushiro opened a closet behind his desk.

"I usually put Hyorinmaru here when I'm not obligated to have it with me. It has enough room for your sword too", he said taking Hyorinmaru off his back while speaking. I handed my sword to him and he put them both to the closet.

"Now, what would you like to see? I can show you around our barracks or the whole Soul Society, though the latter might take much more time", he asked. I thought about it for a moment.

"Wouldn't it be easier if I knew how to shunpo? You did promise to teach me", I said back. Toushiro was surprised for a moment before his expression changed into thoughtful.

"Why not? If you're even a bit like Ichigo you'll learn easily. I mean, your brother just somehow learned to shunpo without practicing at all, and he sucks at everything that includes reiatsu, so I think it won't take much time", he said and I almost started jumping around. Almost.

"Thanks Toushiro! Let's go already!! Wait… where do we go?" I asked and Toushiro hit his forehead with his hand, smirking the whole time. He walked next to me, smirk changing into a small smile, which I had seen pretty rarely.

"We can go to my Division's training grounds. It's not far and that way you'll see at least some of these barracks", he said. I looked at him a bit hesitant. Training grounds sounded like there would be other people training too. And I wasn't sure if I wanted everyone to see me practicing shunpo. What if I couldn't shunpo at all?

"What's wrong Karin? Don't you want to learn shunpo?" Toushiro asked noticing my face. I looked at him.

"I do want to learn how to shunpo… it's just that… will there be other people watching me practice?" I asked. Toushiro stared at me for a while before he realized what I meant. He shook his head chuckling a bit.

"So, you don't want to be seen practicing shunpo? Or you don't want to be seen with me? Well, either way, I can ask everyone to leave. But I doubt there will be much people. Usually they go to practice sometime early in the morning before work. When they have free hours, they do something else, like sleep or just hang out with friends", he told me. It was hard for me to imagine him being able to command people to do as he said, since the only subordinate of his I had met was Rangiku.

"That's good. And just to make it clear to you, I like being with you, and when have I cared about what other people think? I just don't like to be laughed at if I don't learn how to shunpo", I told him flicking his nose. He laughed and ruffled my hair.

"I doubt any one would laugh at you. You can be scary if you want. And everyone in Soul Society knows to respect the name 'Kurosaki'", he said and I smirked a bit. It was both good and annoying. It was good that people knew to respect my name but it was annoying that it was because of Ichigo.

Toushiro seemed to realize that I was thinking something about being in my brother's shadow.

"Don't worry, they'll realize soon that you and your brother are two different people. Though, you can be pretty alike if you want to", he said chuckling. I slapped his arm pretending to be offended, though I was smirking widely.

"Just show me where the training grounds are", I said and he nodded, starting to walk along the hallway.

After walking along the freakingly similar hallways for about five minutes we arrived to a wide area. There were two guys sparring with zanpakutous there. As the one with his face towards us noticed us he said something to his friend and they stopped.

"Captain Hitsugaya!" they both greeted Toushiro. It sounded a bit odd, because I was used to the fact he was treated like a kid of my age. Not like a captain which he was. Well, Rangiku and Renji called him the same way, but that was about all the respect he got from them. Toushiro nodded to the men as an answer.

"Can you continue your sparring another day? I need to use the training grounds", he asked. It didn't sound that much like a question; it was more like a command, but kindly said. Maybe it was because of the way he said it.

The men looked at each other and then they both glanced at me. I smiled and waved at them. Both of them seemed to be embarrassed and turned their eyes back to Toushiro.

"Of course Captain. But could I ask who is this?" one of them said nodding towards me. I was annoyed by the fact they had asked him and not me. Why did they have to ask it from Toushiro? _Hellooo? I can understand what you say! And I can speak myself._

"I am Kurosaki Karin, hello to you too. And before you can ask, I guess I could tell you that Kurosaki Ichigo is my big brother", I said and glared at the men. Both started to grow pale as they heard my brother's name. _What has that idiot done here if everyone gets scared when I only mention his name?_

The man who had asked my name seemed to recover faster.

"Good day Miss Kurosaki. Welcome to Soul Society", he greeted. My eyes went wide. I didn't recall anyone ever speaking so respectfully to me. I heard Toushiro stifled laughter. He probably saw my expression.

"Thank you…" I mumbled and tried my hardest not to blush. It can be embarrassing when grown men speak like that to so much younger person.

Toushiro faked his laughter as coughing.

"Do you have something in your throat _Shiro-chan?_" I asked glaring at him from the corner of my eye. His laughter died down and he glared back.

"Karin…" he growled. I smirked at him. It was clear he didn't want to be called so, especially in front of his men.

"You don't like the name Shiro-chan, eh? Is Snowball better?" I asked innocently. Toushiro's face went expressionless in the most comical way possible. I looked at the two men and saw they were trying to hold their laughter. They seemed to know better than to laugh out loud in front of Toushiro.

"I think we'll just go now. Nice to have you back in Soul Society, Captain Hitsugaya", the man, who had talked more during the time we had been here, said and they both shunpoed away.

I turned to look at Toushiro, who was now glaring at me again, the familiar vein popping in his forehead.

"Karin, seriously. _Snowball???_ Wha-Why-when-WHY?" he asked and I felt a cooler breeze. He never got as angry with me as he got with other people, so it was rare that I felt his reiatsu rise when he was angry at me. I shrugged.

"I dunno. It just came to my mind. You know, you have white and fluffy hair, so it fits pretty well. Though those two most probably didn't know how fluffy and soft your hair is", I said and Toushiro made a choking noise.

"Seriously Karin, I wonder if anyone will never understand what goes in that head of yours", he said ruffling my hair. It was now pretty much like a fur ball. It had been neatly put in a ponytail, but now there was hair sticking into every possible and few impossible direction.

"Toushiro! You're messing my hair!" I said annoyedly turning my back to him and reached to untie the ribbon so that I could fix the ponytail. Suddenly I felt his cool and soft hands in my hair.

"Sorry. I can help you to fix it", he whispered to my ear placing his head on my shoulder. Instead of blushing deep red, which I would have done a few weeks ago, I turned my head a bit so that our noses almost touched and smirked.

"Thanks", I whispered back, staring deep to his teal eyes. He smirked back to me and leaned closer making our nose touch.

"Captain Hitsugaya! What on earth are you two doing?" A male voice asked. _Great. Once again someone interrupts us. I would so like to know WHY?_

"Hisagi. What are you doing here?" Toushiro asked sounding a bit annoyed, turning to look at the man letting go of my hair. I glared at the man before my eyes widened as I saw him. He had short black hair and three long scars over his right eye. The dark grey eyes were a little bit wide, most likely because of he wasn't used to Toushiro behaving like he did.

The man had also a blue stripe-like tattoo across his left cheek and over the bridge of his nose. Around his neck was a choker and he was wearing a matching armband on his right arm. I noticed his Shinigami robes were sleeveless unlike anyone's I had seen before.

But something that caught my eye was another tattoo on his left cheek, under the blue stripe. It was a simple black 69, but it made me wonder _why _he had a 69-tattoo?

"I need your report from your trip to the real world so I came to look for you. I met two of your men who told me you were here. I wonder why they were giggling", he said the last part almost like only to himself. I chuckled a bit and heard Toushiro growl silently. A certain duo was in trouble.

"Can I ask you one thing?" I asked the man Toushiro had called Hisagi. He turned to look at me and after a while staring at me like he was trying to figure out who I was, me he nodded.

"You do know what those numbers on your cheek mean, don't you? Please tell me you do!" I said and both he and Toushiro looked equally confused. I sighed pitying the dark haired man.

"So you don't. Be prepared to get some odd glances if you ever go to the real world. Poor boy", I told shaking my head. The man called Hisagi lifted his hand to touch the tattoo.

"It means something stupid doesn't it. That must be the reason why Kurosaki sometimes chuckles when he sees me", he said and looked a bit sad. I pitied him even more. It was clear he liked the tattoo.

"Hey, don't care about what Ichi-nii does! He is just a child sometimes. I think the tattoo looks cool, makes you look though!" I said trying to cheer the man up. He looked at me and smiled a bit.

"Thanks. I think it's kinda cool too. But you just called Kurosaki Ichi-nii, didn't you? Does it mean you know him?" he asked taking another examining look at me. I nodded.

"Yup. He's my big brother. My name is Kurosaki Karin. I'm here with Toushiro", I said and stretched my hand in front of me. The man glanced at Toushiro, looking a bit surprised.

"Hisagi Shuuhei, the vice-captain of 9th Division. Seems like you're pretty close to Captain Hitsugaya, right?" he said winking his eye at me when he shook my hand. I smirked widely as an answer.

"You could say so", I laughed.

"But, back to business, I really need that report Captain Hitsugaya", Hisagi said turning back to Toushiro.

"It should be in my office on my desk. At least that's where I told my third seat to put it when I sent it here yesterday", he said waving his hand to the direction I guessed his office was. Hisagi nodded.

"Great, thanks Captain Hitsugaya. See ya around Kurosaki", he said waving his hand at me before disappearing.

"Seems like everybody always likes to interrupt us", Toushiro said scratching the back of his head. I smiled a bit.

"He seemed like a nice guy. A bit busy though", I said looking at the empty spot he had been. Toushiro moved his hands back to my hair, continuing to fix my ponytail.

"He's really reliable. If he ever reaches bankai he's sure to become the new captain of 9th Division", he said as he finished my ponytail. He gave it few light tugs, like he was checking it was tied tight enough.

"So, what does 69 mean?" he asked as I turned to look at him. I blushed, not really wanting to explain it to him.

"Err… maybe you could check that from Internet the next time you use it. I really, _really_ don't feel like explaining", I said looking away. This probably made Toushiro even more curious, but so what? He could always check it himself, and I could be there to see his reaction.

I chuckled to myself as I thought about it.

"What's so funny?" he asked. I looked at him and shook my head.

"Nothing, I was just thinking", I answered, trying not to laugh at my own thoughts anymore. Toushiro was still staring at me.

"So, can we now begin training?" I asked. He sighed, understanding he would not get to know why I had been laughing, and nodded.

"Sure. First I'll explain you the theory and then you can try if you can do it only be hearing how to do it", he said and I nodded, concentrated on everything he was about to say.

I can't say shunpoing is easy, but neither can I say it's hard. It's easy when I don't think too much about what I'm doing and just follow my instinct. I also can't let my thoughts wander too much, or I'll run into a wall. Toushiro had to grab me few times to prevent that from happening.

I think it took about an hour for me to learn the basics of shunpo. Of course my speed was not even near matching Toushiro's who was nowadays a Hoho expert (on the same level as Urahara). I would probably lose to any Shinigami I came across, but it was nice finally be able to move at least a bit faster.

I'll learn to be even faster with time.

"I think this is enough for today. We can train more later, but now you know the basics and can train by yourself if you want to", Toushiro told standing on the edge of the training grounds.

During my training he had been either directing me from there or shunpoing with me, trying to get me to move even faster. Or he was saving me from a painful encounter with a tree or a wall.

He was really different when he was teaching me something. More serious. Of course he smirked and laughed occasionally, but mostly he kept serious and tried to help me to make my shunpo better. He was a damn good teacher. No wonder he was already a captain.

I stopped running around the training grounds and looked at him while wiping sweat from my forehead. Shunpoing was pretty tiring for me.

"Do you still want me to show you around the barracks, or should we already go to my room. I think you'd like to get some rest", he said walking to me. I took few deep breathes to make my breathing even and nodded.

"Rest sounds perfect. Plus, it's starting to get a bit late for a tour. We have time tomorrow, won't we?" I asked. Toushiro had to work sometimes.

"I'll have a captains meeting in the morning, but I shouldn't have anything after that. Paperwork can always be done later, or when you're sleeping", he said and I laughed, sitting on the grass. My legs were so tired I felt them burn.

"Would you want me to carry you? Otherwise I doubt we'll get to my room today", he grinned offering his hand to me. I grabbed it and he pulled me up. My legs were so tired that I just had to lean on him.

"Try to stay awake, I doubt you'll want to sleep in your normal clothes again", he said shaking me a bit as my eyelids fluttered as I tried to keep my eyes open.

"Hey, I don't have a pajama! Can I borrow yours?" I mumbled as he lifted me to his arms. I leaned to his chest and inhaling the familiar scent of Toushiro.

"Of course. And you can also borrow my other clothes when yours get dirty. Maybe you should borrow them tomorrow, those are a bit sweaty", he said wrinkling his nose. I stuck my tongue at him.

"Of course they're sweaty after I've run around as fast as I'm able for about an hour!" I said and he rolled his eyes before shunpoing towards his office. Even though I liked to shunpo – I liked the freedom, the wind, everything – it was much more enjoyable when someone was carrying me while shunpoing. It could be because then I could rest and someone else's feet had to do the work.

We arrived at Toushiro's office and he carried me through it, exiting from the door we had entered earlier today. He walked along the hallway for few meters before opening another door.

The room we arrived was like a small living room. It was mostly empty, with few opened doors to a kitchen and a bed room like areas and one closed door, which I assumed led to the bathroom.

Toushiro carried me to the bedroom and laid me down on a futon on the floor. He moved to the closet on the other side of the room and after rummaging through it for a few second he pulled out a pair of shorts and a black t-shirt.

"Matsumoto bought these for me from the real world, and I really haven't used them. I really don't like to use real world clothing here", he said handing me the clothes before exiting to the bathroom.

I stripped my old clothes and quickly pulled the shorts and t-shirt on. I took also my bra of, because I really hated to sleep with it on. The t-shirt was loose, but not in a way that looked just idiotic. The shorts also fit pretty well, thanks to the fact me and Toushiro are pretty same size.

_I still need to ask Matsumoto to bring me some clothes. I can't always be borrowing Toushiro's,_ I decided as I looked my reflection from the mirror.

"If you have changed you can go to bathroom. I found an extra toothbrush, which no one has used. You can use it", Toushiro told from the other side of the door. I slid it open. Toushiro was standing on the other side holding a pink toothbrush.

"Thanks… why is it pink?" I asked staring at the toothbrush. Pink really didn't seem to be a color Toushiro liked.

"Matsumoto bought it. She said it would be good if I had an extra toothbrush when a girl would be staying over for a night", he mumbled scratching his head and looking at the floor.

"Okay… but why pink? I can't see you ever being with a pink obsessed girl", I said and Toushiro chuckled.

"Matsumoto obviously was able to see. But does it matter if it's pink?" he asked waving the toothbrush. I shrugged.

"I guess not. You're clothes are really comfortable, by the way, but could you still ask Rangiku to bring me some of my own clothes? I'm most comfortable in them", I asked. Toushiro nodded and pulled his Soul Pager to send a message to Rangiku. I went to the bathroom to get ready to go to bed.

After I had showered and brushed my teeth I went back to the bedroom. Toushiro had already changed his shihakushou into a white yukata-like night clothing. I raised my eyebrow as I saw him. Usually he wore his hakama to bed.

"Why are you looking so surprised? I've used my hakama only because I didn't have anything else as night clothing. Now that we're in Soul Society I have all of clothes that I usually use", he said noticing my face. He had learned to read me almost perfectly.

"Okay, I was just surprised. You have only one futon? Will we sleep in the same bed?" I asked glancing at the bedroom. Toushiro looked at me a bit annoyed.

"Is it a problem? We've slept in a same bed for weeks. Why does it matter here?" he asked and stood up. I walked to the bedroom and slid the door close behind me.

"Sorry. It's just that I feel so weird in here. I mean the whole Soul Society. I feel like I don't belong", I mumbled walking closer to him. He sighed a bit and wrapped his arms around me.

"You're just tired and everything is so new. I promise that tomorrow you'll feel better, let's just go to sleep", he whispered to my ear and I realized how tired I in fact was. I leaned on Toushiro so that I didn't fall down.

"Sleep sounds like a good idea", I mumbled tiredly and Toushiro helped me to lie down. He had to help me or I would have just fallen to the floor.

Toushiro lifted the covers so that we could snuggle comfortably under them. I buried my face to his chest. I inhaled his calming scent and had almost drifted to sleep when I heard his voice mumble softly.

"The captains' meeting will be in the morning so I might be gone when you wake up, but I'll come back as soon as I can."

I was too tired to answer and just drifted to sleep.

* * *

**Next morning**

When I woke up next morning the bed was empty. I looked around trying to spot Toushiro before I remembered his captains' meeting. _I have no idea when he will be back and I'm already bored._

I decided I didn't want to spent the whole morning inside waiting for Toushiro but rather go out to wander around his Division's barracks. I stood up and opened Toushiro's closet to see if there was anything else than Shinigami clothes.

I didn't find other pants that fit me than his hakama, but with a dark blue t-shirt the outfit didn't look that much like Shinigami robes. After tying my hair into a loose ponytail and grabbing my cell phone (I wasn't sure if it worked, but I liked to have it with me) and iPod I walked out of Toushiro's apartment.

A lot of Shinigamis were walking around the Division. Some ignored me completely (the ones who seemed to be most busy), some took a second look because I was a new person and few even turned to stare at me. I even met the two men who had been sparring on the training grounds last night. The more talkative of the two of them recognized me first.

"Good morning Miss Kurosaki. Are you looking for something? Do you need any help?" he asked and his friend turned to look at me.

"Good morning. I'm just wandering around, no worries. Thanks for asking though", I smiled. "And please, if you can't call me Karin, call me at least only Kurosaki. I'm just sixteen, it feels funny when you're so polite", I continued.

"Of course Mi- Karin", the man said and bowed a bit. I sighed and rolled my eyes. They had seen me with Toushiro so they apparently assumed I needed to be treated with the same politeness.

After wandering around the 10th Division barracks I got bored again. I had already seen everything there.

_I wonder if I could find Momo if I leave this area. She said she is the vice-captain of 5__th__ Division. I have no idea where that is. Well, I can always ask from someone I meet,_ I decided and started to look for the 5th Division's barracks.

After wandering around for about half an hour I was completely lost. _Who idiot decided to make everything look the same? I wonder if even the Shinigamis get lost._

Suddenly I heard talking from around a corner. _Finally, someone I can ask to help me!_ I jogged around the corner and almost bumped into a pale blond Shinigami. I stopped so quickly that I somehow managed to bend my ankle so that I fell down.

"Are you okay?" the Shinigami asked. I rubbed my ankle and lifted my eyes to look at him. He had blue eyes and I wondered how he was able to see properly, since he had his left eye totally covered by his hair. Behind him I spotted familiar black hair and tattoos.

"Yeah, totally fine", I said starting to get up. The blonde Shinigami offered me a hand and helped me up.

"Hey, it's you, Kurosaki!" the black haired Shinigami noticed when I started to swipe the dust from my clothes. I looked at him and tried to recall his name.

"It's Hisagi, right?" I asked. He nodded and his blond friend looked at me curiously.

"So you're Captain Hitsugaya's friend and Kurosaki Ichigo's sister, Kurosaki Karin. Hisagi was just telling me how he met you", he said. I nodded, feeling a bit embarrassed about the fact that people, who I didn't know, were talking about me.

"I'm Kira Izuru, the vice-captain of 3rd Division", he introduced himself.

"Hey, you're already the fifth vice-captain I've met! I somehow always thought I'd meet the captains first. I only know Toushiro and Ukitake from captains!" I said almost only to myself. The Shinigami duo raised their eyebrows simultaneously.

"You've met us, and I guess the two other ones are Matsumoto and Renji since they're in the real world, but who is the last one?" Hisagi asked. Kira seemed to be surprised that I called Toushiro by his given name, so I assumed Hisagi had only mentioned he met me, not the way I had been acting with Toushiro.

"I met Momo yesterday when I and Toushiro arrived Soul Society. She came just after Ukitake had left. Oh, and I have also seen Yamamoto, but not met in person!" I realized while talking to the Shinigamis.

"You've met Momo? Why didn't I realize that, she is the childhood friend of Captain Hitsugaya", Hisagi said slapping his forehead.

"That explains why she was smirking so widely yesterday. She likes to meet new people, especially ones who know Toushiro", Kira said. I looked at him curiously. The way he talked about Momo told me that they were more than colleagues. Hey, I have my woman instincts, though they're buried deep.

"I was just looking for a way to 5th Division to meet her, but I'm kinda lost. How can you ever find your way around here?" I asked a bit frustrated. The Shinigami duo chuckled understandingly. It seemed like they had once met the same problem.

"I can escort you there, I was just on my way to meet Momo when I ran into Hisagi. Can you shunpo or will we walk?" Kira asked.

"I'm in no hurry, but we can shunpo if you want to. I'm still pretty slow though", I answered, but couldn't help but to feel proud by the fact I was finally able to shunpo at least a little.

"I'm in no hurry either, everyone just likes to shunpo when moving longer distances. I'll move slowly enough that you can keep up", he said and I nodded.

"Well then, I need to get back to my Division. I hope Nanao has already brought the report of 8th Division already. She's usually on time. See ya Kira, Kurosaki", Hisagi said before shunpoing off. I was only able to catch the first steps he took, before he moved fast enough that my eyes weren't able to keep up.

"The 5th Division is this way", Kira called to me to get my attention. I turned to look at him. He was pointing to the opposite direction than Hisagi had just disappeared.

"Okay, let's go then", I said and we shunpoed away.

I had to shunpo pretty fast to keep up with Kira, though I tried not to shunpo so fast I'd be just panting when we got there. Still, it seemed like Kira shunpoed like he was just out for a walk. _Seems like I have lots of practicing to do._

Despite the fact I tried not to tire myself I had to lean to my knees to catch my breath when we finally stopped in front of the 5th Division.

"Did I go too fast? You should have said something", Kira said, sounding worried. I straightened myself and shook my head.

"It was a good speed. I need to practice to get faster, that's all", I said. Kira looked at me for a moment reminding me of everyone who have doubted my ability to do something.

"Seriously, it was good training!" I huffed and put my hands on my hips. Kira shrugged and tried to hide a smile.

"What are you smiling about?" I asked curiously. The blond Shinigami turned to look at me.

"You're so much like your brother. You don't want to be weak, you want to get stronger – or in this case faster", he said. I smiled sheepishly. That was something he was correct in. Ever since from middle school I hated to be treated like a weak little girl. I wanted to show everyone I can handle myself just perfectly. That was one of the reasons why I had asked Tatsuki to teach me how to fight.

"Izuru! You're here already! And Karin! What brings you here?" we heard a familiar female voice exclaim. Momo was just walking down the hallway towards us.

"Toushiro went to the captains' meeting and I was bored so I thought I'd come to visit you. However, like can be expect from someone who's in the Soul Society for the first time, I got lost. Then I met Kira and he escorted me here", I told staring at Momo. Something about her was different today. Suddenly I realized it.

"Your hair is open! It looks good that way. Not that the bun was bad, that looks better", I said staring at her hair. It was a bit shorter than mine with even shorter bangs on either side of her face.

"Thanks. I didn't want to bother putting it in that bun today, so I just left it open", she said starting to play with her hair.

"You look beautiful Momo", Kira commended and took a step closer so that he was able to take some of her hair between his fingers. Momo blushed.

"I came to say that I have to cancel our lunch because I need to go to a mission in Rukongai, but how about dinner tonight at my place?" Kira asked Momo. She smiled kindly.

"That sounds good! Be careful on the mission", she said and kissed Kira's cheek. The man blushed a bit, before waving his hand and disappearing.

"He's always so nice", Momo sighed and turned to look at me.

"So what do you want to do? I don't have anything to do, so we could go to wander around Soul Society. I doubt Shiro-chan had time to show you around yesterday", she suggested. The idea sounded good, but I had a better idea.

"How about we go somewhere peaceful and you tell me about Snowball's childhood? I know he has left the most embarrassing parts out when he has told about it", I asked smirking evilly. Momo giggled at the nickname.

"That sounds like another good idea. We could go sit on some roof or to Rukongai. I know a pretty clearing in the Junrin'an. That's the district where Toushiro and I grew up", Momo suggested. Of course to me, a nature and adventure lover, Rukongai sounded much more interesting.

"Let's go to the clearing. I like to somewhere out of cities", I said and Momo nodded understanding. I guess she liked the nature better too, since she had grown up near forests and fields.

"Follow me. And don't worry, it's not far", she said noticing my grimace of the idea of shunpoing again. I was already pretty tired.

"Okay. But don't go too fast", I sighed and we shunpoed off towards the western gate.

* * *

**Toushiro's POV**

_Finally! I swear everybody talked so slowly just to annoy me!_ I sighed when we were finally dismissed from the meeting. **_Of course, everyone wanted only to annoy you. Maybe that was the only reason for the meeting. To annoy you!_** Hyorinmaru remarked sarcastically. I ignored him.

_It's already over midday. I doubt Karin will stay inside that long. Hopefully she has remained within my Division's barracks. I don't want to go look for her around Soul Society._

I arrived to my Division faster than usually after a captains' meeting. First I checked my room, but of course she wouldn't stay there. Next I quickly ran around my division.

"Where is that girl?" I growled annoyedly after the second round around the division. Few unseated Shinigami in my division turned to look at me confused, before they continued. Then I spotted my fourth and seventh seats (aka the two who had been sparring last night).

"Hey, you two there!" I called after them. They turned around and greeted me.

"Captain Hitsugaya. Do you need something?" the seventh seat, Takezoe Kokichiro, asked.

"Yes. Have you seen Karin around?" I asked glancing between the men. Both immediately recognized the name.

"We saw her early in the morning, just few minutes after the captains' meeting began. She told she was just wandering around. I don't think we saw her again after that", Takezoe answered. I groaned. That probably meant she had left my division barracks.

**_She likes to wander around, what can you do about that? But if she left your division she has most probably got lost at some point._**_ You know what, you're probably right._

I waved at the two men before exited my division. _How on earth can I spot her here? Her reiatsu is usually at so low level I can't spot it here. _**_Try to follow her scent_**_**.**__ I AM NOT A DOG! _**_Your sense of smell sucks. I'm sure I could follow her scent if you let me out. _**_I'll try something else first… It's a bit too radical to use materialized zanpakutou to search for a single girl when she most likely isn't in danger._

"Looking for something Captain Hitsugaya?" I heard a deep voice behind me. I turned around to look at Komamura, Iba and Hisagi.

"Yes, I am in fact. Have you seen Karin? She's a black haired human girl, a bit shorter than me, hair most likely in a ponytail tied with a white ribbon. Hisagi, you know who I'm talking about", I told frustrated. The black haired vice-captain nodded.

"I saw her earlier today. She wanted to find the 5th Division to hang with Hinamori", Hisagi told. Iba and Komamura were eyeing me curiously. I had been a bit surprised by the fact Captain-Commander hadn't mentioned Karin during the meeting, only after it he asked me to bring her to the next meeting.

"Thanks, I'll go there then", I said and disappeared before neither captain nor vice-captain of the 7th Division was able to say anything. They'd have to be satisfied with the information from Hisagi.

_Why is everybody in Soul Society so damn curious in other people's affairs? _**_Because otherwise it would be boring. Face it, nothing ever happens in here! Except when a Kurosaki makes something happen_**_. __You're once again right._

Unfortunate for me, the girls had already left the 5th Division when I arrived. I grabbed the nearest Shinigami walking past.

"Do you know where your vice-captain is? I'm looking for her?" I asked the man. He shrugged.

"I hear she left to Rukongai to hang out with a girl no one in our division had seen before", the friend of the man said. _Well, that limits the possible places they're in. Either they're at Granny's house, or then they're in the clearing. _

"Thanks", I said and headed towards the western gate. The gate was open, like it usually was when it wasn't a war situation, and Jidanbou was sitting on the Rukongai side of the gate talking with some souls.

"Hello Captain Hitsugaya. Are you going to go to visit your Granny?" Jidanbou asked as I slowed down when I passed the gate. For safety reasons shunpoing through the gate was forbidden (the shunpoing accident last year had forced three Shinigamis to stay in bed for weeks).

"Maybe I should go to visit now that I'm going to Junrin'an. I just need to find Momo and Karin first", I told. Jidanbou's eyes sparked.

"Karin. So that's the name of the fiery girl who somehow reminds me of the first man who has ever been able to beat me", he said and it was clear that the duo had used this gate to go to Rukongai.

"No wonder, Ichigo is her brother. Do you know where they were going?" I asked. Jidanbou had always been a close friend to Momo and me.

"Well, the Karin girl was talking about something that she was happy to get to see the nature of Soul Society, so I'd guess they went to the forest", he said trying to remember if the duo had said anything.

"Thanks Jidanbou, you were a big help", I said and shunpoed towards the old clearing Momo and I used to play in. When I approached the clearing I heard the ringing laughter of Karin.

"I can't believe it! He really did that? That's priceless!" Karin laughed when I finally spotted them. She was practically rolling on the ground. Momo was chuckling too. It wasn't hard to guess who they were talking about.

"Having fun?" I asked standing behind the two girls. Momo cried out jumping a bit. Karin managed to swallow the cry, but she still jumped.

"It's not nice to scare other people like that, Snowball!" Momo cried and I felt my eye twitch. _Snowball? Kurosaki Karin, you're in deep shit… _**_I think it's adorable. You're my little Snowball! Yesh you are, little Snowball,_** Hyorinmaru started to coo. I shuddered.

"Momo… have I said something about how you should call me?" I asked smiling annoyedly and a bit evilly. She chuckled.

"C'mon! Snowball isn't a bad nickname! I could have come up with even more embarrassing", Karin said throwing her hands in the air. I really doubted that.

"What have you two been talking about?" I asked, still pretty annoyed. The girls smirked at each other. It's never a good thing when girls smirk at each other. Everyone should know that.

"Momo just told me the uncensored version of your childhood. It was so much funnier than the one you told", Karin said, trying not to start laughing again. I had a pretty good idea about what Momo had been telling her, and it didn't make the girls' situation any better.

Suddenly a hell butterfly landed on Momo's hand. She listened the message and sighed.

"I need to go. The third seat officer had managed to make a wall fall on top of him and I need to go to solve the situation. See ya Shiro-chan, Karin", she said and shunpoed away. Karin looked after her, looking a bit jealous.

"Damn, she got away. Why can't I have a reason like that to escape?" she muttered and I smirked. Someday I'd make her pay.

"Hey Toushiro. Can I meet your Granny? Momo told me she lives in this district", Karin asked interrupting my mischievous scheming. **_Like you ever do that_**_. _

"I guess that's okay. I was planning to go visit her at some point soon", I told and she smiled brightly.

"Okay, follow me. It's not far. Do you want to shunpo or do I carry you?" I asked noticing how her smile faltered when I told her to follow me.

"How about a piggy-back ride? For a change, you know?" she asked. I looked at her a bit surprised, but shrugged and nodded.

"That's okay. It's even easier to shunpo when carrying someone in your back than in your arms", I said and turned my back at her, bending my knees a bit. She wrapped her arms around my neck and jumped to my back. I took a hold of her legs to help her to stay in my back and took off.

While I shunpoed towards Granny's house, Karin laid her head on my shoulder, closing her eyes and enjoying the breeze. I glanced at her peaceful expression from the corner of my eye, and almost run into a tree.

After shaking my head to clear my thoughts I concentrated on the trees in front of me to avoid any other close calls. We were soon out of the forest and in the streets of the Junrin'an. I stopped in front of the house in the edge of the village.

Granny was sitting on the porch outside, smiling, clearly enjoying the sun. She opened her eyes and looked at me, smiling even wider.

"Toushiro! It has been long since you visited last time! I feared you had forgotten your Granny!" she greeted me. I couldn't help but smile.

"Of course I came since I was in Junrin'an. The Captain-Commander has just kept me busy", I said and let go off Karin's legs to that she was able to slide down from my back.

"Ah yes, Momo told me you were sent to the real world. I thought you had to be there longer than this", she said. Then she turned to look at Karin, who was smiling kindly next to me as we walked closer to my childhood home.

"Hello. I'm Kurosaki Karin, a friend of Toushiro", she greeted her and offered her hand to Granny when we were close enough.

"Hello there. I'm Toushiro's Granny. It seems like you're more than a friend to Toushiro. This kid doesn't let many people to call him by his first name", she said taking the hand and eyeing me with a look only a happy and curious grandmother can master.

"She's my girlfriend", I told her, wrapping an arm around Karin's waist. Surprise crossed the raven haired girl's face, before the smile returned. I guess she was surprised because I rarely treat her so much like her boyfriend in public.

Granny's smile grew even more.

"It was about time you found someone. I've been waiting for you to get a girlfriend ever since Momo started to date that Izuru from 3rd Division. But judging by your outfit you aren't a Shinigami. You're from real world?" Granny asked. I always wondered how she was so sharp.

"Yes, I met Toushiro when he was assigned to my home town in real world. I already knew about Shinigami though, since my big brother happens to be one", Karin told and Granny nodded, thinking.

"That must mean you have high reiatsu. You should become a Shinigami so you can join Toushiro's division", she told and Karin chuckled.

"I'll think about that. It sounds like a good idea", she told her eyeing me slyly. I knew that if she ever joined my Division, I wouldn't have a moment of piece. And I doubt she would do that much paperwork.

"C'mon in kids! I'll cook something for you since you've come to visit", Granny told and we both nodded, following her to the small house which held so many good memories for me.

* * *

_We are more than we are, we are one!_

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**I should have been reading for my German test, which is tomorrow. What was I doing: writing this chapter. Way to go me! But sorry for taking so long to update, I've been studying like crazy. Tomorrow begins my exam week which means the next update might take some time too.**

**Wish me luck for the exams. I'm just glad I have only four of them. German, English, History and Math. There are three of my "favourite" subjects. Can you guess which ones...  
**

**I've come up with an idea for another HitsuKarin fic. It's AU and I think it will be pretty much a humor fic, with some more serious parts. I plan to make it have more plot than this one, since in this fic the plot part is only about to begin, or is beginning. I just don't know whether to write this fic completely ready, or write two fics simultaneously. Tell me what you think, and if you're interested I can tell you the summary I've planned for the new fic.**

**Song quote: Lion King 2 (I love the movie) We are one**

**Rewievers are the best people in the world! So please review! Cookies for you if you do!**

**Hugs to everyone! Tschüss!**

**~Vilu**


	16. A Collection

**Chapter 16! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, it belongs to Tite Kubo!**

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**Toushiro's POV**

One thing was for certain: my Granny just adored Karin. She thought the raven haired girl was a perfect match for me with her habit of saying what she thought and her tomboyish looks. I saw Granny glance at me few times giving a wide smile.

Karin also seemed to like Granny. They were just talking about everything: me, how we met, me, how was the real world like nowadays, me, the past and me. Yeah, I noticed that I was their favorite subject.

**_They aren't talking about me at all!_** Hyorinmaru pouted.

_I don't see a reason why they would._

**_I'm adorable! _**

_No, you're not. _

**_You're mean for someone so short._**

"Did Toushiro learn to play soccer while he was living in Rukongai?" Karin asked. I rolled my eyes. That girl's mind had always room for soccer.

"Yes, he wasn't able stand losing Momo at something when he was younger. So when Momo learned to play soccer he spied on her while she kicked the ball around and then learned how to play by himself!" Granny told amusedly and I had to control myself so that I wouldn't blush. I had totally forgotten that.

Karin turned to stare at me with an unbelieving look before turning away to try to contain her chuckling. When she had calmed down a bit she turned to look at Granny again.

"So Momo can play soccer too? Is she good?" she asked.

_I get the feeling Karin is planning to challenge her to play against her._

**_Who wouldn't get it? She loves soccer_**_**, **_Hyorinmaru stated matter-of-factly.

"Not as good as Toushiro anymore but she can play pretty well. I think she and Toushiro are the best players in Seireitei, but that could just be their Granny talking", Granny answered with a chuckle.

"I think you might be right. At least I know Toushiro is a damn good player, but still he usually loses to me", Karin said proudly. Granny looked at me a bit surprised. I shrugged nonchalantly. It was true, she beat me more often than I was able to beat her.

"You must be a great soccer-player", Granny told and Karin smiled proudly. Suddenly my Soul Pager beeped.

"Toushiro! Do you need to bring your work with you when you visit your Granny?" Granny asked displeased. I smiled apologetically.

"I can't get away from the fact I'm a captain. And this isn't about work", I answered reading the message. Both Karin and Granny looked at me expecting me to continue.

"It's form Matsumoto. She said she'll be bringing a bag with your stuff today", I said looking at Karin. She nodded smiling a bit.  
"That's good. Not that your clothes aren't… err… nice, I like my own better", she said and Granny chuckled.

"I thought that shirt looked familiar. It's the one Matsumoto bought you last year", she said nodding towards the shirt Karin was wearing. I looked at Granny surprised.

"You remember when she bought it? I have a closet full of clothes she has bought me and I am not able to remember when she had bought any of them", I said shaking my head in disbelief. My Granny had better memory than many of the captains, including me.

My Soul Pager beeped again.

I read the message and my eyes widened.

_I need to come now or otherwise Ichigo will wake up before Urahara will be able to close the gate and I doubt you want him following after me. And before you ask, no, we didn't knock him out, Urahara drugged his tea._

I chuckled a bit as I read the last part. Karin looked at me wanting to know what was so funny.

"Matsumoto is coming now. Urahara had to drug your brother to stop him from coming after Matsumoto", I told her. Karin groaned remembering the over-protective Ichigo in the real world.

"Doesn't your brother like the fact you two are dating?" Granny asked Karin. She shook her head sighing a bit.

"He doesn't know we're dating. He just doesn't like any guy being close with me", she told and Granny chuckled. I was sure she knew who her brother was even though she hadn't asked it. Karin had mentioned he was a Shinigami and that her family name was Kurosaki. Anyone could put that together and realize we're talking about Ichigo.

"Sounds like he worries over you", she said kindly. Karin rolled her eyes.

"He's the most overprotective person I've ever met. Seriously", she answered. Granny chuckled again.

"Well if Rangiku is coming then maybe you should go. Just remember to visit your Granny more often", she told me with a stern glance. I smiled sheepishly.

"Yes, I'll try. But you know that being a captain is hard work", I defended myself.

"I'll make sure he'll visit more often", Karin promised as I moved closer to lift her to my arms.

I walked out of the house carrying the raven haired girl in my arms. She looked over my shoulder and waved to Granny. I glanced over my other shoulder showing a tiny smile. Granny's smile grew wider.

"See ya again!" Karin exclaimed just before I shunpoed away. Karin wrapped her arms around my neck and rested her head against my chest. I smirked down at her and increased my speed. I knew she loved to go fast.

We reached the Senkaimon gate just before Matsumoto stepped out. Just as I had guessed, she came through the gate in the middle of Seireitei instead of the one in the Sokyoku hill.

"How many gates do you have in here?" Karin asked when we stopped. I shrugged and put her down.

_I don't know it. Why haven't I asked it? _

**_Because you don't care? _**

_That must be it._

"I guess we have several. That's another thing you can ask from Captain-Commander tomorrow", I said. She looked at me like I was stupid.

"I don't care about it that much! I was just wondering", she said with a huff.

"Hey, no need to get angry at me. I just answered your question", I said back. She glared at me over her shoulder.

"You can be annoying sometimes, _Snowball_", she breathed leaning closer to me. Our faces were only inches apart.

"Snowball?!" I heard the familiar voice of Matsumoto. She had just entered through the gate and was staring at me with a huge amount of amusement shining from her eyes. Suddenly she was laughing uncontrollably.

"Matsumoto", I growled warningly. Karin just looked at my howling vice-captain and chuckled a bit. I glared at her and she stuck her tongue at me.

Suddenly Matsumoto grabbed her into a tight hug from behind.

"I knew you would be perfect for Captain, I just knew it! You're so cute!" she cooed to her not noticing Karin's futile attempts to get away from her crushing hug. I rolled my eyes before moving to help her.

"Matsumoto… you're suffocating my girlfriend", I said to the strawberry blonde woman. She looked at me confused and then down to Karin.

"Oh sorry, I did it again", she said letting go of Karin. She fell to the ground, already unconscious.

"KARIN!" I yelled and kneeled down next to her shaking her slightly. She was breathing so Matsumoto hadn't managed to kill her.

"I really should not hug short people", Matsumoto muttered kneeling down on the other side of Karin. I shot a quick angry glare at her before returning my eyes to Karin.

"Karin, wake up", I said softly, causing Matsumoto to stare at me wide-eyed. She had never heard me speak so softly.

"What is going on in here?" a new voice asked. Matsumoto and I lifted our faces to stare at the person who had arrived.

"Kuchiki", I said nodding a greeting. Matsumoto nodded too, turning to rummage her bags which she was carrying.

"Captain Hitsugaya. So, what is happening here?" Kuchiki asked voice even and expression bored. If I didn't know better I would have said he wasn't the least interested in the answer.

"She fainted. Matsumoto's hugs can be lethal", I explained waving my hand in front of the girls face trying to get a reaction.

"And who is this?" Kuchiki asked nodding towards Karin. I suppressed a sigh. Only the captain of 6th Division was able to not hear the rumors about my new girlfriend.

"This is Kurosaki Karin. She's here as my guest", I told him. For a tiny moment I thought I was able to see surprise cross the man's face but soon it was back in the usual emotionless expression.

"Is she any relation to Kurosaki Ichigo?" he asked in an uninterested voice. I rolled my eyes. _Karin must have been annoyed about that question. Everyone seems to love to ask it._

"Yes, she's is his sister", I told. In the same time Matsumoto had finally found what she was looking for. My expression must have been worth seeing when I saw what she was holding.

"Here you go Captain Kuchiki! The gnome you asked me to bring for your collection!" she said handing the exactly same gnome I had bought few months ago before Karin even knew about me being a Shinigami. Kuchiki turned to look at Matsumoto and I can't describe his expression to be none the other than _happy._

Yes, the stone faced captain of the 6th Division was _smiling._ How creepy is that?

**_Toushiro, run. NOW. The end of the world is coming. But don't forget to take Karin. I couldn't survive living with only you. _**

_You've been living with only me for decades now! Why wouldn't you survive anymore?  
_

"Thank you Matsumoto. Now I have a gnome from every single town I have visited. It's a shame I never had time to buy one when I was visiting Karakura town", he said taking the gnome. I was just staring at the scene mouth hanging open. I even missed Karin stir and open her eyes.

"Toushiro? Please tell me I didn't die yet", she mumbled weakly. I turned to look at her. Her eyes were half-open and she looked like she was about to fall asleep.

"No, you're not dead. You just were unconscious", I told her helping her sit up. She shook her head to clear it.

"Hey, who's that? And why is he holding the gnome we bought?" Karin asked surprisedly as she noticed Kuchiki. The black-haired man turned to look at Karin with a slightly interested gaze.

"So you're the ones who picked up this fine piece of art. You shall have my gratitude", he said making Karin stare at him like he had announced he had just came from Mars.

"Okay… and who were you again?" she asked glancing at him worriedly grapping a tight hold of the front of my kimono. I glanced at her and her expression could only be described as scared.

_This scene is really starting to confuse me._

**_It's starting to confuse you now??? How about the time she gave him the gnome? I was confused from that moment._**

"I'm the captain of 6th Division, Kuchiki Byakuya", he introduced himself. Karin's eyes flashed when she realized she knew the name.

"So _you're_ the man with the pink sword! I wonder why Ichi-nii is afraid of you, you seem to be a nice guy", she said. It had never been so silent in Soul Society.

"Who told you about my sword?" Kuchiki asked slowly glaring at me from the corner of his eye. Karin missed the threatening tone of the man completely and answered smiling.

"Ichi-nii of course. He told about it when he told about the rescue Rukia –trip. But really, you don't seem like a scary guy", she said. Kuchiki was boiling with anger.

"I shall show him that to fear me is something he really should do. But why does he fear me before this?" Kuchiki asked turning to look at Karin again after staring into space for a moment.

"Well he said it had something to with how you would skin him alive if you knew about him and Rukia. Oh, I wasn't supposed to tell you that!" Karin exclaimed slapping a hand over her mouth. It was too late. Kuchiki had heard her.

"What is that bastard doing with my sister? I shall execute him", he growled and I instinctively pulled Karin to my arms and jumped away from his way. He gave the gnome to his third seat, who had been waiting around the corner during out chat, telling him to get it to his house. With that he walked straight through the Senkaimon. Karin looked after him worriedly.

"Do you think he'll kill Ichi-nii?" she asked me.

"I don't think he'll kill him, but he might have to spend some quality time in your clinic", I answered looking at the Senkaimon as it closed behind the captain.

"But even if Ichigo will be angry at you Rukia will be grateful! She has been telling Ichigo to finally tell Byakuya that they're dating! She hates hiding it from him", Matsumoto said joyfully. Karin smiled at her, relieved that she wouldn't have two people hating her.

"I still understand why he hasn't told Kuchiki. It's the same reason I don't feel like telling him about us yet", I said kissing Karin's forehead. Matsumoto awed loudly.

"Is that Byakuya overprotective?" Karin asked and squirmed in my arms telling me to let her stand on her own. I set her feet carefully to the ground.

"You could say so", Matsumoto chuckled. "Oh, here, I brought your stuff", she continued swinging the bag over her shoulder. Karin took it smiling gratefully.

"Thanks. It'll be so much easier now that I have my own clothes", she said swinging the bag over her shoulder.

"I guess so, but Captain's clothes look good on you", Matsumoto said half-pouting and gestured towards Karin's outfit. She smiled putting her hands to her hips.

"How are things in real world by the way? Ichi-nii trying to kill Urahara?" Karin asked and I almost rolled my eyes. Of course the crazy Kurosaki would be practically trying to eat Urahara for letting Karin come with me.

**_Eating Urahara… Yuk!_**

"No, he believed when Urahara told that the gate is somehow broken. I don't think he'll buy it for a long time so Urahara'll have to come up with another excuse", Matsumoto told. Sometimes Kurosaki could be pretty stupid.

"By the way Rangiku; if the gnome was for Byakuya then why did you need those snow globes? Are they a souvenir for someone too?" Karin turned to ask from Matsumoto. She smirked widely glancing at me from the corner of her eye.

"They're to make our offices more fitting to our Division", she told. Karin looked at her confused for a moment before she realized what she meant. She too glanced at me and tried to cover her smirk with her hand. I glared at Matsumoto.

"You want to bury our offices in snow globes?" I asked, eye twitching in annoyance.

"Not bury, just decorate", she told pouting.

"Just make sure you can still find your paperwork after decorating", I said and she heaved a sigh.

"Yes Captain", she said in a slow bored voice before disappearing towards our Division barracks.

"So Karin, would you like to see some more of Soul Society now? We have time", I said when we were alone again. Karin looked at me pondering.

"Sure, but let's just drop my bag at your place first. And I want to shunpo myself this time", she said almost pouting.  
"Of course, I'm not gonna carry you if you don't want me to", I said shaking my head.

**_But admit it, you'd want to just carry her around always._**

_You shut up._

_**You didn't deny it! Aww, my little boy is growing, **_Hyorinmaru cooed. I glared to space.

"Hyorinmaru annoying you again?" Karin asked studying my expression. My glare softened when I met her eyes and I nodded.

"Someday I'll seriously use him as knife sharpener. Or as kitchen knife as Renji likes to do with Zabimaru", I growled and felt Hyorinmaru back father away in my mind.

"Just remember you wouldn't be a captain without him", Karin said.

**_Yeah, remember that! Show some respect!_**

_I'll show you respect when you show me some!_

"Yea yea, of course", I answered rolling my eyes. Karin glanced at me with a smile which told me she knew what I was thinking. Sometimes I swear she can read my mind.

"Okay, let's go already. I know the first thing I want to see", Karin told me with a wide smirk. I looked at her questioningly. She just smirked wider and shunpoed towards my Division barracks.

**_She has mastered the basic skill of captains: running off without finishing speaking. _**

_I don't do that, _I said almost hurt. Hyorinmaru just snorted.

It didn't take me more than three steps to reach Karin. She scowled a bit when she saw be shunpoing beside her, but what was she expecting? I had had decades of practice and she had only learned shunpoing the day before.

I didn't run that fast but Karin was still pretty tired when we reached my place. She bent to lean on her knees to calm her breathing. I looked at her apologetically.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have run so fast. I tend to forget how new shunpoing is to you", I said and she just glared at me. She straightened up and swung the bag to the ground.

"I need to get faster. I can't always be losing to everyone", she said rolling her shoulders. I wrapped my arms around her waist from behind.

"Does it bother you when you lose to me?" I asked placing my head on her shoulder. She turned to look into my eyes, smiling a bit.

"Not so much. It could have something to do with the fact I know you're a genius", she said mockingly. I faked a pout.

"Is that all? I thought it had to do something with the fact you love me", I said and tightened my hold. She turned around so that she was facing me now.

"I thought I didn't need to say you that. You know I'm not good with the sappy stuff", she said blushing slightly. I smiled widely.

"I know that. It's just nice to hear it sometimes. To remember that you're mine", I whispered to her ear letting the possessiveness show in my voice for the first time when talking to her. When I drew away from her ear I saw her raise her eyebrows but she still kept smiling.

"Toushiro", she said teasingly. "I never realized how possessive you were". I cocked my head and stared her into her eyes.

"Is that a good or a bad thing?" I asked cautiously. Knowing Karin's personality she might be offended when I got possessive. But that was just the way I was.

"I think I like it", she smiled softly lifting her hands to both of my cheeks rubbing the gently with her thumbs. From there they moved to the back of my neck to pull my face closer to hers.

"That's a good thing", I almost purred. I saw Karin's surprise over the way I acted. I brought my hands from her waist to gently grab her cheeks. Slowly I pulled her face closer until our lips met.

The kiss began slowly, our lips moving in a quiet pace. Little by little the kiss turned to more and more passionate and my hands moved away from her face, other to the small of her back to pull her body closer to mine and other to the back of her head to keep her lips on mine.

She fisted her hands in my hair to pull my face even closer. I started to feel the need for oxygen and judging by Karin's movement she was out of breathe too. Our lips broke apart and our eyes made their contact. Karin's face was flushed and she was panting with a small smile grazing her lips.

I smirked and leaned close to her ear. "I love you", I breathed. I felt her shudder because of the warmth of my breathing.

Slowly I moved my face down to rest my head on her shoulder. My arms were wrapped around her waist again. I felt her soft hand slowly move to my hair, stroking it gently. I turned my head to face her neck.

"I love you too", I heard Karin mumble under her breathe. I smiled and snuggled her neck just over the collarbone and kissed it softly. I heard Karin's breathe catch in her throat. She was nervous. I lifted my head to look her in the eyes.

"Don't worry Karin, I would never hurt you", I told her before I pulled her into a tight hug. I heard a small chuckle from her and felt her wrap her arms around me.

"I know that. I was just surprised. You don't seem to be a guy who often does something like that. You seem to avoid contact", she said pulling away to look me in the eyes. I shrugged with a small smirk tugging my lips.

"Maybe so. But I just like to hold you", I admitted. Karin chuckled more softly than I was able to imagine she would be able to do and patted my cheek.

"That's so sweet Toushiro. Seems like you're not the ice-prince everybody thinks you are. Deep inside you're a real softie", she said smirking. I smirked back and ruffled her black hair.

"C'mon guys, that was all? You need to get more intimate!" I heard a familiar man exclaim. To Karin the voice was however new and she spun around (I was still holding her) and lifted her fists ready to punch the newcomer. I kinda wished she had.

"Hello to you too Kyoraku", I said voice emotionless as I stared the man with wavy brown hair, a straw hat and a pink kimono over his shihakushou. He pushed the hat a little bit back to see better.

"What's with the sour face Toushiro? You should be smiling, you are holding a lady in your arms", he said swinging his arms around. I glanced at Karin and smirked when I saw her confused face.

"This is Kyoraku Shunsui, the captain of 8th Division", I told her waving my arm towards the man. He shunpoed next to us and took Karin's hand in his kissing it softly.

"And who might you be, beautiful girl? Are you maybe the mysterious girlfriend of Toushiro whom I have heard so many rumors about?" he asked Karin. I got the urge to kick him through the walls. I would have already done it if we weren't in my Division.

Karin's thoughts were similar to mine and she quickly drew her hand away and I had a Kyoraku shaped hole in the wall. I glanced at her and saw her blushing furiously. She certainly wasn't used to guys like Kyoraku.

The said captain stepped in the hole he had just made and laughed sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

"Seems like you pack a lot of punch", he said walking over to us again. I instinctively tightened my hold around Karin's waist pulling her closer to me.

"Relax Toushiro", the captain said calmly and stopped before reaching the distance he could get a foot to his face.

"I'm sorry if I somehow hurt your feelings young miss. Could you still answer my questions?" he asked looking at Karin. She shrugged, probably not knowing what to say.

"If you meant to ask my name, I'm Kurosaki Karin, but it really seems like you already knew that", Karin said still eyeing the man warily.

"The sister of the famous Kurosaki Ichigo. I wonder if you could be even better fighter than him", Kyoraku pondered and reminded me way too much of Kenpachi. Karin shrugged.

"How would I know? I really don't fight with my brother that much", she said. I still remembered the time she had kicked him away to the ocean and rolled my eyes.

"Excuse me for interrupting your moment. I must be on my way now", Kyoraku said tilting his hat a bit before disappearing, only leaving behind the scent of cherry flowers.

"Does he use perfume?" Karin asked sniffing the air. I laughed a bit.

"Wouldn't be surprised if he did", I said letting go of Karin a bit reluctantly. She glanced at me with a smirk and raised eyebrows.

"So, what did you want to see first? You said you had an idea", I said picking up her bag from the floor and putting it in my room. Karin smirked even wider.

"I want to see Byakuya's gnome collection!" she exclaimed. My eyes widened before I burst into laughter.

_She always surprises me. But I have to admit, I want to see Kuchiki's collection too. _

**_Count me in!_**

"Okay, I think we should be able to sneak into the Kuchiki estate using Yachiru's secret passageways under it", I said smirking as I remembered the pink-haired girl explain how she dug them when I gave her a huge bear plushie full of candy. She said I would be allowed to use them whenever I wanted to.

"Secret passageways? It sounds like a castle!" Karin laughed. "So, wanna carry me or do I run by myself" she asked cocking her head with a big smile on her face. I scooped her to my arms faster than she was able to realize.

"You need to ask?" I smirked at her. She looked at me and shook her head chuckling a bit. I bolted off to head for Kuchiki estate. I had once visited the place when our captains' meeting was held there because of our usual place was being rebuilt (a certain Kurosaki had visited Soul Society and met a certain captain 11th Division).

"Wow, this place is huge! Rukia really lives here?" Karin asked staring the estate eyes wide. I had made a quick round around the place to show her how big it exactly was before stopping at the entrance of Yachiru's secret passageways.

"Most of it is just empty space. I just wonder how Kuchiki doesn't get lost", I explained. Finding a bathroom from the estate had been a mission impossible for me and other captains (excluding Kuchiki and Captain-Commander).

"How can we find his gnome collection from there? It'll take us a week to investigate it", Karin moaned frustrated. I glanced at her amused.

"You know we really don't need to find it. We can just try to find it", I said and she scowled at me over her shoulder.

"I know, but that's like losing to him! It means he's better in hiding things than we're in finding them!" she complained and I had to chuckle. Her logic was understandable in an odd way.

"Okay, okay. You can take the lead, I have as much clue about the whereabouts of the gnomes as you", I said rolling my eyes. Sometimes Karin was really childish, but I in fact enjoyed these childish things.

**_No surprise, you're still a child yourself._**

_And you're an idiot dragon I have to listen to all the time._

**_That I am!_**

"Well then, let's move it!" Karin said grabbing my hand and dragging me into the estate behind her. After walking about for a minute underground we lifted a tatami above our heads and climbed to the room. It was empty.

"Do you know how many rooms does this place have?" Karin asked opening the door leading to the hallway. I shrugged.

"Never asked. I only know that there are many of them", I said and Karin huffed. It was quiet obvious.

"Which direction should we even go? I mean if we get lost we'll starve to death!" Karin exclaimed throwing her arms around.

**_Sometimes she likes to exaggerate things, doesn't she? _**

_Sometimes you like to be a Captain Obvious, don't you?_

"I have a good feeling about that way", I suggested pointing north. Karin followed my finger and shrugged.

"Great! Then we're going this way!" she exclaimed smilingly and started to walk to the opposite direction. I shook my head smiling and with few quicker steps I was on her side.

And after five minutes we were completely lost. The hallways and similar rooms seemed endless, though we did find two bathrooms. Sometimes we found a small garden with a pond and cherry trees.

"Toushiro, come to look at this!" Karin exclaimed after we had spent about an hour in Kuchiki's house. I calmly walked to where she was pointing out of the window.

"He has a swimming pool! I really didn't expect to find one, everything seems so traditional here", she said shaking her head with an expression which told me she was sad she didn't have her swimsuit with her.

"I don't think he knows he has a swimming pool. I heard that the Shinigami Women's Association has built a swimming pool here at least five times. Each time Kuchiki has destroyed it. He must have not found this one yet", I said staring at the pool.

I knew surprisingly lot about the SWA considering Matsumoto was a member and she talks A LOT when she is drunk. Which is pretty often.

Karin glanced at me eye wide. "You know you have too big house when someone is able to build a swimming pool without your noticing", she said shaking her head before climbing out of the window. I jumped out after her.

"I can understand why they want it here. It's so peaceful and pretty", she said staring at the cherry trees with dreamy eyes. I stared at her, extremely confused.

"Karin… you're acting really weirdly. At least for you. When have you stared at something _dreamy eyed_?" I asked bringing her back to reality. She scowled at me.

"What? Can't I like peaceful things? I rarely get peace at home so I can appreciate it", she said pouting a bit.

**_She has a point you know. Her family is really lively._**

_So is she. She causes at least as much ruckus as her brother._

**_You have a good point too_**_**.**_

"Sure you can. I just mentioned that you don't usually act that way. The normal Karin would probably already have jumped into that pool", I said. Karin smirked at me raising her eyebrows.

"You don't know me well enough", she said and shunpoed behind me. The only reason I didn't turn around in time was because I was surprised by her sudden shunpoing – **_Yeah, keep telling yourself that_** – and she managed to push _me_ into the pool.

One second I was teasing Karin and the next I had water in my mouth. When I felt the bottom of the pool I kicked myself to the surface again.

"Hey! What was that for?" I asked trying to push my hair away from my face. Karin was standing on the edge of the pool, laughing at me.

"For saying I'm not being me! Am I being me now?" she chuckled. Not for long though, because I splashed the water with my hand, making her get all wet.

"Toushiro! No one is allowed to attack the evil guy when he is explaining his evil plan!" Karin exclaimed and jumped into the pool too, causing a splash which hit me in the face.

"Karin, as far as I know you're not a guy, evil or explaining any evil plan", I laughed before she tackled me by grabbing my waist.

"That's just as far as you know", Karin said laughing mischievously. I grinned and shook my head.

"You're impossible to understand", I sighed leaning on the edge of the pool. Karin walked to me (the water just reached her armpits) and grinned.

"And you love me because of it!" she laughed leaning on me, dangling her fingers in my wet hair.

"And I love you because of it", I agreed at kissed her lips softly.

"What are you two doing in my house?" A venomous voice asked behind us.

_He's damn fast in beating Ichigo!_

"Hi Kuchiki. I didn't think you'd be home so soon", I said slowly lifting Karin's legs of the ground. She realized what I was about to do and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"You didn't answer my question, Captain Hitsugaya", Kuchiki continued glaring down at us. Once I had Karin secured in my arms I glanced at the fuming man over my shoulder.

"See you tomorrow at the captains' meeting!" I said and disappeared from his pool. I knew I would never be able to beat him by shunpoing, so I hoped he was not going to follow us. I wasn't surprised that he didn't.

"I hope he didn't beat Ichi-nii badly", Karin said when we were shunpoing over the 8th Division barracks.

"Don't worry about him, he has Rukia to stop Kuchiki from attacking", I said. Karin sighed.

"Yeah, you're right. Otherwise he would be toast", she laughed. She looked down to watch the buildings under us.

"You know what Toushiro. I'm pretty tired. Maybe we could just hang in your place for the rest of the day", she suggested after covering a huge yawn with her hand.

"I would like that but I need to do some paperwork too. My third seat is not fast enough and it starts piling up", I complained. The biggest reason was that I had spent so long in the real world while my third seat had been doing what Matsumoto told him to do.

"I can always sleep in your office, can't I?" she asked yawning again.

"Sure, but I want to know, did you sleep at all last night?" I asked. Karin was clearly going to fall asleep as soon as I would put her down.

"I guess I did. It' just been a long day", she mumbled. I finally reached my office and opened the door with my foot so that I would not drop Karin by accident.

"Remember that the captains' meeting will be tomorrow morning. And pretty early", I said. Karin just let out a small huff of breathe indicating she probably didn't hear what I said.

"Well, at least you'll get more sleep before it that I'm going to get", I mumbled placing her down on the couch. I picked a blanket from the closet (usually for Matsumoto when she had passed out on the couch) and placed it gently over her.

"Now, the paperwork", I sighed sitting to my desk and starting to fill up the papers.

* * *

**Karin's POV**

I woke up next morning when sun shined right into my eyes. I covered them with my hand and sat up. With a quick look around I realized I was in Toushiro's office.

"Why am I sleeping here?" I mumbled rubbing my eyes. I heard soft snoring from behind me and glanced over my shoulder.

Toushiro was there, sleeping on his desk.

"Aww, he must have fallen asleep while doing his work. I wonder if I should wake him", I cooed looking at my white-haired boyfriend. Yes, I cooed. I coo when no one hears.

I stood up and walked over to the sleeping boy as quietly as I was able. We had his arms crossed on the table, head leaning on them with a slight bit of drool coming from his mouth.

"And you complain about me drooling! You drool on you work!" I exclaimed. Toushiro stirred a bit but relaxed again with a deep sigh through his nose.

"Toushiro. Wake up! You're sleeping on your desk. That can't be a good position to sleep in", I said and shook his shoulder. Nothing happened. I shook harder. He just stirred again and turned his face away from me.

I looked around myself spotting a glass full of water. I took it and leaned to whisper to Toushiro's ear, "If you don't wake up now I'll pour this water to your head".

Toushiro turned his head again, staring at me with slightly open eyes.

"Morning sleepy head!" I greeted and put the glass back down. He blinked few times trying to remember where he was and why.

"Karin… I fell asleep on my desk? Ugh, my neck is killing me!" he grumbled lifting his head from his arms, still eyes only half open.

"That's what you get for working till you collapse. You need to learn healthier way of living!" I told him swaying my finger in front of his face. Suddenly his eyes flew wide open.

"The captains' meeting! Were late!" he said jumping up from his chair. I took a step backwards, surprised by his quick movements.

"How do you know? You haven't looked at the clock yet", I asked. Did the captains have some kind of instinct to now when they were late?

"The sun is that high which means it must be at least ten. And the meeting started exactly at ten", he said and hurried to his room to change his clothes. They were the same ones he had had when he fell to the swimming pool but the warm air had dried them. I looked at my clothes and decided that I'd better change too.

"Toushiro, do you mind if I change now too? I mean if we're in a hurry", I asked sliding the door open. Toushiro was rummaging through his closet wearing only his boxers. A blush was immediate.

"Not at all! That's a good idea in fact", he called over his shoulder pulling his hakama out of the closet. I shrugged at grabbed the first shirt and shorts I saw from my bag. I quickly threw Toushiro's shirt to him and undid the obi to get the hakama I had borrowed off.

I just let them fall to the floor and was already pulling on my red t-shirt with a black dragon on it. I kicked the hakama farther from my feet and pulled a pair of black loose shorts on. Toushiro came to me straightening his haori.

"Are you ready?" he asked. I nodded. "Good. Then we're off", he said scooping me to his arms and shunpoing out of his room and out of the building. In mere seconds we were over the roofs of Soul Society. It didn't take us long to reach the 1st Division barracks.

"Great, of course they've started without us", Toushiro grumbled glaring at the closet door. I had to wonder for a second why did they need so huge doors but decided to ignore it.

Toushiro pushed the doors open revealing a long room with Yamamoto standing on the other side. There were eight people standing in two neat lines, everyone's eyes aimed at us.

Three of the men I recognized from before but the rest of the five were new faces. The two women looked pretty normal compared to the men. The woman closer to Yamamoto was pretty short and had black hair with some kind of decorations hanging from it. The other one was really mother-like. She had a kind smile and everything else in her was somehow overly kind too. A bit creepy…

The men were a bit odd. The most normal looking was a huge man with an eye patch, pointy hair with bells on top and a devilish grin. The other two were creepier. One looked like a scary clown from circus with his white skin and odd head thingy and the other one looked like a giant dog.

"Captain Hitsugaya, I see you have decided to join us", Yamamoto greeted. Toushiro cocked his head, face expressionless.

"And finally I can meet you in person, Karin", he said turning to look at me. I smiled a bit nervously and nodded. Toushiro moved a bit closer to me.

"This girl is Ichigo's sister? She strong?" the pointy haired man asked with a smile which almost made me want to run. Toushiro moved so that he was standing between him and me.

We walked closer to the people, Toushiro glaring at the pointy haired man warningly. I looked to the other side to spot the clown like man and moved a bit closer to Toushiro. His smile was even creepier than the pointy-haired man's.

I noticed Byakuya look at us expressionlessly and suddenly remembered something.

"Hey Byakuya, you didn't beat up brother badly did you?" I asked staring at him. He looked at me and shrugged. I suppressed a chuckle when I was able to see the annoyance in his face.

"You went to fight Ichigo? Why didn't you tell me?" the pointy-haired man asked. Byakuya lifted his face to gaze at him.

"I don't need your help with him Kenpachi", he said, sounding tired. I glanced over my shoulder. _So he's the captain of 11__th__ Division I've heard so much about. He's just as scary as told._

"So, Kurosaki Karin, do you know why I've asked you to come?" Yamamoto asked. I turned to look at him and shrugged.

"I don't have the slightest clue", I told honestly and heard Toushiro sigh next to me. I could only guess he had told me the reason at some point and I just forgot it.

"Captain Hitsugaya has told me you have high reiatsu and can fight against Hollows. Am I correct?" he asked. I shrugged again. Somehow it made me feel uneasy to know that the captains were talking about me when I wasn't there.

"Well, I guess you are right. Urahara and Yoruichi taught me how to fight when Ichi-nii didn't want to. So I yes, I can fight and in my option I'm pretty good", I told him.

"You're Yoruichi's student?" the short female asked surprised. I turned to look at her. She looked vaguely familiar.

"I guess you could say so. Why do you ask?" I asked still trying to figure out where I had seen her face before.

"I'm the captain of 2nd Division, and a former student of Yoruichi's, Soifon", she said proudly. A realization hit me.

"You're the person in the picture with Yoruichi! That hair looks better on you than the earlier one", I said. She had changed a lot from the time a small picture Yoruichi had shown me was taken.

"She has a picture of me", the woman said, eyes filling with sparkles.

"So you can fight and have high reiatsu. The reason you're here is to discuss about making you a Shinigami too. Are you interested? We have safer ways of turning human into a Shinigami than Urahara" Yamamoto asked. I glanced at Toushiro before looking at him.

"I guess I could do so, but I want to graduate first. Didn't Toushiro tell you that?" I asked a bit surprised. I had told him that a couple of times.

"Captain Hitsugaya mentioned something about it earlier but I wanted to hear it from you" ,he said nodding. "Now we'll move on to other things. You can stay if you want to but you're not needed anymore", he said. I figured I'd just get lost if I tried to go somewhere so I decided to stay and keep company to Toushiro.

The meeting was boring. Even though they mentioned the increase of Hollows in Karakura, they managed to make it sound so boring that I didn't bother even listening to them. _I wonder how Toushiro stays awake in these meetings._

"I think that's all for today, next meeting will be in a week. You're dismissed", Yamamoto finally said when I was almost about to fall asleep on my feet. Toushiro poked my arm and my head snapped up. With a quick check around myself I realized everyone was leaving.

"We're free to go?" I asked excited. Toushiro chuckled and ruffled my hair. He was much more relaxed and smiling now that most of the other captains had left (only Unohana, the motherly woman, Komamura, the dog like man, Ukitake and Kyoraku were there).

"Yes, we're free to go", he answered smiling when my face brightened.

"Well why are we still here? Let's go to something fun!" I said grabbing Toushiro's hand and dragging him out of the building. I heard four warm chuckles behind us but didn't care about them.

* * *

**Day earlier, Karakura town, Ichigo's POV**

I was starting to wake up after mysteriously falling asleep at Urahara's while we were having tea. First thing I noticed was that Rukia and Renji were chatting about something, occasionally glancing at me with a big smirk. Rangiku wasn't around anymore.

"What happened? Why did I fell asleep?" I asked, confused. I hadn't felt tired but still suddenly had fallen asleep. Something was really suspicious.

"I don't know Ichigo, you just suddenly collapsed on the table. Almost gave me a heart attack", Rukia said. I would have believed her, but I knew she would never be scared by me falling asleep and she was smirking too knowingly.

"Where is Rangiku?" I asked getting more and more suspicious.

"Dunno, probably beating up some Hollows", Renji said shrugging. He was about to continue when a Senkaimon opened behind us with a single hell butterfly flying through. We were all equally surprised to see Byakuya walk out of it.

And even more surprised when we noticed he was really pissed.

"Kurosaki", he practically growled, "what kind of relationship you have with Rukia?"

Both mine and Rukia's eyes flew open. _Shit, he knows! How? I have done my best to hide it!_

"Onii-sama, you finally know? I've been waiting for this", Rukia said smiling with a sigh. I shot a panicked glance at her. She would be safe, but I was sure I was in for a beating.

I was even surer about it when Byakuya grabbed his sword.

"Prepare to face divine judgment. Scatter Senbonzakura", Byakuya said and I saw flying pink petals. Never a good sign.

"Run Ichigo run", Rukia and Renji laughed together. I didn't have time to shot angry glance at them before hitting my Substitute Shinigami badge and jumping out of my body to shunpo far far away.

* * *

_You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess_

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**Finally done! I was supposed to get this chapter out yesterday evening, but I fell asleep… So I wrote the end today.**

**I've noticed something. I'm extremely shy about writing any kissing scenes! I hope it's worth reading…**

**And I'm so sorry that this update took so long, but I've started to write another story, Flower Among Men, and wrote two chapters for it. The updating speed for this story will drop because I write them simultaneously. Please check the other story too, it's HitsuKarin.**

**Song quote: Love story by Taylor Swift  
**

**Thank you for reading! And please, review. Even an update soon makes me really happy!**

**Hugs to everyone!**


	17. Trouble begins

**Chapter 17 already! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of the characters. They all belong to Tite Kubo.**

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**Toushiro's POV**

After we had spent almost two weeks in Soul Society everybody knew Karin. She was the girl who didn't care about etiquette when talking with captains, always said what she thought and was laughing with everyone. Or at least that's how Komamura described her to me once after a captains meeting. It really sounded like Karin to me.

Karin loved to hang out with Komamura and his division plus some of the vice-captains (Kira, Hisagi, Momo and Matsumoto) so often that after a captains' meeting my two best shots of places I could find Karin in were either 5th or 7th Division barracks. Or then she was taking Komamura's dog Goro for a stroll though she often got lost when she did so. I didn't even remember how many times I had to run around Soul Society when I was looking for her. Thankfully Goro has a loud bark.

I had to do some work to keep Kenpachi away from Karin. He still wanted to test if the skills and strength ran in family and was popping around random corners to try and fight Karin. Karin's shunpoing skills grew much better because of that. She herself said she would like to fight him but that was an absolute no form me. I guess she understood me because she seemed to be a little wary when she saw the huge man.

All of the vice-captains loved her company, because every time when I had a captains' meeting Karin went to see one of them. Karin became a good friend especially with Hisagi, Kira and Momo. Often after meeting the three vice-captains she had the usual smirk on her face, meaning she knew more embarrassing things about me than before.

I really need to ask Yuzu about Karin's childhood to get to know something embarrassing about her. I was sure there was a lot to know.

When we got a change to hang out together we usually left Seireitei and went to Rukongai. I learned that Karin loved the nature. She could have lied on a field for a whole day, or wandered around the forests. I followed her and showed her some of my favorite places from my own childhood. Those were nice days.

Other times we sparred or I taught her more about shunpo. She still had the urge to become stronger and to be able to protect other people. I understood that, but I still didn't fighting with swords. Karin noticed this quickly and began to spar with the men from my division. I was always watching, which probably caused the men to be a little scared to attack her.

That and the fact every time they hit her even with a wooden sword the temperature dropped by few degrees.

Even with the trouble to find a sparring partner Karin's fighting skills improved quickly. Captain-Commander had already mentioned that if she learned some kido too she wouldn't need to go to the Shinigami Academy at all. Karin of course was excited to hear this. She didn't want to go to the academy when her brother didn't have to go either. I agreed to teach her kido once we were back in real world.

Time flies when you're having fun. So was it even now. The day of the last captains' meeting my presence was required in came sooner than I expected.

"Tomorrow we'll be going back to real world", I said on the morning when we slowly started to wake up with the birds chirping outside. Karin lifted her face from my chest and smirked at me with eyes half open.

"So are you ready to face the wrath of Ichi-nii"? she asked and chuckled. I rolled my eyes and ruffled her already ruffled hair. She just didn't know how to sleep still.

"Your brother is not as scary as you think he is. Of course I can handle him", I said smirking at her. She laughed again and sat up stretching her arms above her head.

"I'm going to miss sleeping on you. You're a comfortable pillow", she said looking at me over her shoulder. I moved my arms behind my head and smiled at her.

"I can come to stay at your place. You won't have a change to miss me that way", I said. She stood up and walked to her bag to look for clothes to wear laughing at me over her shoulder.

"And you think Ichi-nii wouldn't notice you sleeping in my bed? I think that he is not that stupid", she said pulling out a white t-shirt and her favorite shorts.

"I could freeze the door shut. That way he wouldn't notice us", I laughed. Karin shook her head smiling widely.

"Yeah, and no one would notice a frozen door in the middle of summer", she said sarcastically turning her back to me and pulling off her shirt. She quickly changed the other shirt on and then pulled the shorts on (she had slept in only t-shirt).

"Details, who cares about them", I said waving my arm. Karin chuckled again and walked back to the futon.

"If I remember correctly, you've once jumped out of my window when you got scared of Ichi-nii when he entered my room, haven't you?" she teased sitting down next to the futon. I sat up and pouted.

"It was a reflex. You can't help reflexes", I explained only causing Karin to laugh even more.

"Of course it was", she grinned. I gave up on trying to be mature and stuck my tongue at her.

And of course that was the moment Matsumoto decided to burst in. Luckily she didn't have a camera in hand like she sometimes had. She claimed she wanted to have photos of the real me.

"Captain! You're late from your meeting. Oh, did I interrupt you?" she giggled when she saw me. I glared at her and Karin tried to stifle her chuckles. Not succeeding in it.

"Thanks Matsumoto, I'll get going", I said and she left with a wide smirk which told me nothing good was about to happen. Meaning she was going to tease me so much once again.

"I have to go now. You stay within Seireitei. I don't want you to get lost in Rukongai alone", I told Karin poking her nose. She smiled.

"I think I can take care of myself during your meeting. Nothing has happened before", she said and I had to admit, she was right. She had adapted to Soul Society better than I would have guessed.

"I'll be back in some hours", I told and kissed her forehead before grabbing my shihakushou and putting it on. When I was ready I waved at her and shunpoed towards the meeting room. She waved back with a small smirk.

She clearly had already decided what she would be doing while I was away.

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**Karin's POV**

After Toushiro left for his meeting I heaved a deep sigh. I had no idea what to do while Toushiro was away. Today's meeting was for both captains and vice-captains, so I had no one to hang out with. I wandered around the 10th Division barracks until I got bored. Everyone knew not to spar with me while Toushiro was in his meetings and they listened to their captain.

So I decided to go for a walk around the Seireitei. Yes, I was being a good girl and listening to what Toushiro had said. Without even noticing it I ended up at 7th Division.

The familiar barking greeted me when I reached the offices. I quickly jogged around them and was nearly attacked by the brown dog.

"Hi Goro! You're here alone too, aren't you?" I laughed and scratched the dog behind his ears. He barked and swatted his tail. I was lost in my thoughts for a second still scratching the dog absentmindedly. I remembered that Komamura had given me permission to take Goro out for a walk whenever I wanted to.

"Hey Goro, wanna see Rukongai?" I asked and got an excited bark as an answer. I smirked widely.

"I thought so!" I exclaimed and grabbed a leash. I tied the leash to his collar and felt a bit guilty for a moment. Toushiro had told me not to go to Rukongai alone. But when I had Goro with me I wasn't alone. _Toushiro is not gonna like this. Whatever, I'll still do it! And it's not like he will even find out!_

I walked quickly to the western gate. Jidanbou was chatting with few people from Junrin'an at the gate. He turned to look at me when he heard Goro's barking.

"Karin! It's rare to see you here without Captain Hitsugaya", he greeted me when he recognized me. I smiled.

"Yeah, well, he has a meeting so I had to come by myself. And about that, I would appreciate if you didn't mention this to him. He kinda told me to stay within Seireitei but I just like the forests in Rukongai", I told smiling a bit guiltily. Jidanbou grinned.

"Of course Karin. I saw absolutely nothing", he said and covered his eyes with his hand. I chuckled.

"Thanks Jidanbou! You're the best!" I exclaimed jogging towards the streets of Junrin'an. I heard Jidanbou's laughter echo behind me.

"Hey Goro, where do you want to go boy?" I asked untying the leash. He was well trained dog and didn't run away from me. He just barked happily and ran towards a nearby field. I had been there with him before.

I laughed and ran after him. Some people I passed looked at me shaking their heads in a bit disappointed way and others smiled at me. Most of the people here in Junrin'an knew who I was because I visited so often with Toushiro.

We reached the field and I had to stop for a while to stand on the hill and enjoy the breeze. My hair was swinging behind my head and I closed my eyes to breathe a deep breath.

Goro's barking made me open my eyes. The dog had turned to look at me ad was swaying his tail expectantly. I picked a stick from the ground.

"Fetch!" I exclaimed and threw the stick as far as I was able. Goro barked happily and sprinted after the stick. I stood on the hill looking at the happy dog. It made me a bit sad to know this was the last day I'd spent at Soul Society. I had grown to like this place.

But I would return here as soon as I would graduate, that I had already decided. Now that I knew Yuzu would know where I'd go and I would be able to visit her if she decided to stay in real world it had been easy to make my decision. Ichigo would probably be happy since I knew he would move to love here at some point.

"Are you Kurosaki Karin?" a male voice asked, startling me. I turned to look at a grey haired young man. He had a hooded cloak on, covering most of his head, but I was able to see some grey strands on his face. He had a long scar across his cheek.

"Yes, and who are you?" I asked feeling a bit suspicious. Usually people in Rukongai didn't come to talk with me, it was like they feared me. And when they did, they didn't use my whole name, they just called me Karin like I had told them to do.

"I need to speak with you now. Would you follow me?" he said in a commanding tone reaching his hand towards me. I took a step away from him lifting my hands closer to my face fisting them.

"I don't really feel like it. In fact I have to go now", I said and whistled to Goro. He barked and I only could assume he was running to me. I didn't want to break the eye-contact with the man. The least I wanted to turn my back to him.

"You aren't going nowhere!" he said grabbing my arm. I really wanted to remark that if I wasn't going nowhere I was going somewhere, but I decided that could wait for another time. The man was scary and had a really tight grip.

I tried to pull my arm free, but he tightened his grip. I stared at him angrily and swung my leg towards his legs. He moved faster, tripping me over so that he was holding my arm behind my back. He pulled it making me wince in pain.

"What are you doing? LET GO!" I screamed struggling against his hold. Another breeze blew across the field and threw his hood away from his head allowing me to see his head. He had a part of broken mask across his forehead and reaching over his head. I gasped.

"You're an arrancar! What are you doing in Soul Society?" I asked him surprised. He laughed evilly.

"Those stupid Shinigamis think they've beaten us all. They were wrong! There are still some of us who want to revenge Aizen! And Hollows have always been able to get to Soul Society if you didn't know that", he told tightening his hold even more. I had to bit my lips not to whine because of the pain.

"Why are you attacking me then?" I asked angrily, fearing the answer. The man laughed again.

"You'll find out all soon. You're just perfect bait for our plan to work", he said covering my mouth with a wet cloth. It smelled really funny and the smell made me dizzy. Soon I wasn't able to struggle against the man's hold. I closed my eyes and let the darkness wash over me.

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**No one's POV**

The grey-haired arrancar threw Karin over his shoulder opening a garganta. He checked his surroundings to make sure no one had seen him and stepped to the rip. It closed behind him just as Goro reached the point the black haired girl had been.

He howled sadly after his friend and sniffed the air to find the direction she had disappeared to. He whined confusedly when he smelled no trace telling where the girl had disappeared.

Suddenly a short silver-haired person hurried to the dog from a nearby forest. The dog whined at the person and she put her hand on his head comforting him.

"You could have done nothing. Just like I would have been helpless against that man. We need to tell Toushiro what happened", she said grabbing the dog's collar and starting to make her way towards the western gate as fast as she was able.

At the gate Jidanbou was surprised to see the old woman hurry closer with the same dog Karin had been walking with earlier.

"Hey, where's Karin? What happened to her?" he asked worriedly. The old woman leaned to her knees. She was not in the same condition she used to be. After a few deep breaths she turned to look at the huge man.

"She was kidnapped! We need to tell Toushiro. Could you carry me to the meeting room? And the dog, could it wait in your room?" she asked looking at Goro. The dog was whining worriedly.

"Sure, I'll even ask my friend to look after him. I guess he's Komamura's dog. But now hop on", he said putting his huge hand to the ground. The old woman climbed on the hand and he lifted her to his shoulder.

"Hold on to something, I don't know how to shunpo but I'm still pretty fast when I'm running", he told and she grabbed the yellow decoration of his hat just as he started to run through the streets of Seireitei. Many frightened Shinigamis had to jump out of his way not to be crushed under his feet.

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**Toushiro's POV**

The meeting had lasted already for an hour and I didn't think we had made any progress. These meetings seemed to be longer and longer and time was moving slower and slower every time.

_I hope something interesting would happen. Hopefully Karin is having fun because I am certainly not. _

**_You know, when you wish for something that ends up happening you usually wish you hadn't wished for it._**

_If something happened this meeting could be over or at least it wouldn't seem to last so long._

_**Just remember what I said.**_

Suddenly a Senkaimon behind Captain-Commander Yamamoto opened and revealed a very guilty looking Renji and a very pissed Ichigo. _This can't be good for me._

"I'm sorry, he heard I had to come to this meeting and wanted to come too. I tried to stop him but he wasn't unconscious when I thought he was", the red-head explained glancing between me and Byakuya, not sure which one he should be apologizing to.

I sighed.

**_See, I told you so! You're in trouble now young man!_**

_Stop sounding like you were my mother! That is really disturbing…_

"TOUSHIRO! What have you done to my baby sister!?" Ichigo roared causing everyone in the room to look at me, some with unbelieving expression, some giving me thumbs up and some (aka Matsumoto) sniggering.

"Nothing! She wanted to come here herself! Why are you so angry? She's perfectly safe here", I told him, trying to calm him down so that he wouldn't destroy the meeting room. The repairs would be paid by my pay-check. And I knew it was not cheap to repair the meeting room.

"She's not safe here! There are guys like you here, ready to make move on her!" Ichigo said, overprotective brother instincts racing. I rolled my eyes.

"She's sixteen! She can stand against guys on her own if she wants to!" I exclaimed angrily. Everyone was glancing between us like they were watching a ping-pong game.

"What is that last part supposed to mean? She's too young to have a boyfriend! She needs to be at least 18 when she starts dating and I'm just making sure she won't start dating before that" Ichigo said, making almost everyone in the room sigh and some throw pitying looks to the orange-headed substitute Shinigami. At least they all knew now that Ichigo did _not_ know about me dating Karin. He was probably the only one who didn't.

"I think she can decide those things herself and you really should let her live her own life", I sighed rubbing my temple. I really had the urge to deep-freeze the orange-haired man in front of me. That would make things so much easier.

**_Do you wish now that the meeting would have been just boring?_** Hyorinmaru teased.

_Yes. Are you happy that I admitted it?_ I asked with a deep inward sigh.

**_Extremely!_** the dragon exclaimed and laughed manically. I had to suppress a grimace.

Just as the substitute Shinigami opened his mouth to say something about Karin's love life, and how she should not have it yet, the front door was practically blown off. Ukitake and Kurotsuchi, being the closest ones to the door, had to jump backwards to avoid getting hit by it.

Everyone's attention was immediately directed at the two people standing at the doorway. Or rather one huge person and another one on his shoulder. My eyes widened as I recognized them both. I would have never imagined either of them interrupting a captains'meeting.

"Jidanbou? _GRANNY?! _What are you doing here?" I exclaimed staring at my Granny. Probably the last thing I had ever expected her to do was to kick doors down. Though it had probably been Jidanbou who got rid of the door. I sensed some gazes directed at me when I called her Granny but I ignored them.

"Toushiro, no time to be surprised", Granny said as Jidanbou set her on the floor. She looked extremely tiny next to him.

It was a little late not to be surprised.

"What are you doing here? And why didn't anyone stop you from kicking the door in?" I asked flabbergasted. It seemed like Kurosaki had forgotten he was angry at me, he was now staring at the doorway jaw hanging open along with most of the people in the room.

"They tried. I knocked them out", Jidanbou told. I heard some gasps behind me, but I could never guess who the gaspers had been. Jidanbou was huge, of course he could knock people out easily.

"Forget about that! Toushiro, Karin was just kidnapped!" Granny exclaimed. My mind went literally blank. I couldn't believe what I had heard. I didn't see what was in front of me anymore or hear anything. The sentence 'Karin was kidnapped' was circling around my otherwise empty brain.

"WHAT? DIDN'T YOU JUST SAY SHE WAS SAFE HERE!?" Ichigo roared, causing almost everyone to cover their ears as the roar echoed around the room. He clearly didn't have the same problem as I did.

"How could she have been kidnapped? I told her to stay within Seireitei!" I asked quietly as I finally found my words again ignoring Ichigo's accusation. Jidanbou looked really guilty.

"She said that to me too, but she also said not to tell you that she would go out in Rukongai for a bit", the man told and seemed to be shrinking down. I drew a deep breath to help my brains to work.

"She went to Rukongai… on her own… Is she out of her mind?" I asked when my brain slowly started to wrap around what I had just heard.

_Why couldn't she have listened to me? I had a reason to tell her to stay within Seireitei!_ I huffed angrily to Hyorinmaru but also a little sadness in my mind.

**_But you know her. She does what she wants_**_**, **_Hyorinmaru told trying to comfort me. It didn't work that well.

"What happened?" Ukitake asked, noticing neither I nor Ichigo was going to ask the question. We were both too worried and distracted by the worry.

"She was on the field close to my house when I noticed her. There was a guy in grey coat with her. He had his back towards me so I didn't see his face but when she saw it she was scared. The grabbed her arm and put a cloth on her face which made her black out. Then the man did something and a hole in the air opened. He went in and it closed behind him", Granny explained. Every Shinigami in the room knew what the man was.

"I'm sorry Toushiro, I wasn't able to help her", Granny continued sadly looking at me. I shook my head.

"It was not your fault", I said fighting to keep my voice calm. Inside I was boiling and everyone in the room noticed it as the temperature dropped by dozen degrees. Still, I was not blaming my Granny. What could she have done against an arrancar?

_How dare they attack Karin! I'll kill every one of them!!!_

"How can an arrancar be here?! I thought you guys said you got rid of them! Nel was supposed to be in Hueco Mundo to make sure no strong enemies would have a change to surprise us!" Ichigo turned to glare at Captain-Commander. His expression hadn't changed at all.

"We got rid of every arrancar we found. That man must have been hiding somewhere. And if he survived that means there could be others too", Captain-Commander said calmly.

I didn't want to bother to listen anymore and turned around to leave the room.

"Where are you going Captain Hitsugaya?" Captain-Commander asked meaningfully. I looked over my shoulder.

"To save her of course! And beat every single arrancar I see in the progress", I said angrily. Why was he still holding me there?

"I didn't give you permission to leave. And if you left you might be only doing what they want you to do. Think about it; why would they kidnap Karin? She's not a Shinigami, she only knows Shinigamis", the old man said. I turned around to stare at him.

_Is he saying what I think he is?_

**_I fear he is._**

"You aren't telling me to abandon her, are you? Because let me make this clear to you: that will never happen! No matter what you say, no matter if I do exactly like they want me to do, I'll go to save her even if I die doing so!" I growled, shocking few of the people in the room. Apparently they hadn't realized how much Karin meant for me.

"Don't be stupid Captain Hitsugaya! We have no idea how many of them there are, how strong they are or even where they are! Nel has given her normal reports and according to them nothing is going on in Hueco Mundo!" Soifon said angrily. Sometimes she annoyed me with her attitude.

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT! I'LL JUST FIND KARIN AND BRING HER HOME!" I roared. From the corner of my eye I noticed Ichigo's surprised expression. When he noticed my gaze it changed into approving. I guess he was not going to be angry at me when I was talking about saving his sister.

"Captain Soifon is right in what she says, but I want to correct some things you've clearly misunderstood. I'm not forbidding you from going, I just want you to think about it a bit more. You're letting your feelings get in the way of rational thinking", Captain-Commander said calmly. I noticed how my breath was raging.

"What is there to think about?" I growled. This was as calm as I was going to get.

"The place the arrancar took Karin for example. It is not Hueco Mundo; Nel and the few Shinigamis assigned there to help her would have noticed that. So we have no idea where they are", Ukitake said.

"Well, if they're not in Hueco Mundo, that leaves just Soul Society and real world. I doubt they would be stupid enough to have their head quarters in the Severed world", Ichigo said. I wasn't surprised to hear the impatience in his voice, however I was surprised that he was actually making sense.

"Yes, but both Soul Society and real world are huge worlds. It'll take enormous amounts of time to search them both", Kyoraku said. I snorted.

"It is easier than that! Karin can control her reiatsu better than Ichigo but she still sucks at it! So when were close enough we should be able to feel her reiatsu", I said. I had learned to know her reiatsu so well I would be able to notice it across about ten kilometers.

"What if they use sekki stone? You can't sense reiatsu through it", Kurotsuchi noted.

"Aizen didn't use sekki stone back in Las Noches so I doubt some random arrancars have it. It is pretty rare isn't it", Renji said, and I inwardly sighed in relief. It would have been impossible to find her if they used sekki stone.

"Abarai is correct. When we were there the whole Las Noches along with Orihime's cell was built from regular stone", Kuchiki said. I was surprised he had opened his mouth.

"Still, we have two whole worlds to search. And not everyone will recognize her reiatsu", Soifon said. I grimaced at her. She just had to point the facts when they weren't good ones.

"We'll just have to try to find her", I said. It was unnerving to know she was in the hands of the enemy while we just chatted with each other.

"Captain Hitsugaya is right. He can be the leader of the search party in real world. Abarai, Matsumoto, Hinamori and Hisagi will be coming with you. Other captains will search from Soul Society and then join you if nothing is found", Captain Commander said.

"We'll leave now!" I commanded, and was really glad I had Hyorinmaru already tied to my back. I called a hell moth and walked to the gate behind Captain-Commander. He moved out of the way so that our little group was able to stand side by side before the gate.

"I'll be coming with your group", Ichigo announced. I looked at him over my shoulder and nodded. His expression was changing between determined and worried and I knew I could never stop him from coming. Not that I wanted to.

"Shiro-chan", Momo said softly putting her hand on my shoulder. "I'm sure she's okay. Don't worry, she's strong", she whispered. I looked at her letting all the worry show in my eyes. Gently I lifted my hand to hers.

"Thanks Momo. I really hope so", I muttered before turning my face back towards the Senkaimon gate my gaze turning back to determined. It opened and I ran forward.

Because all of us were Shinigamis we didn't need to travel through the severed world and arrived right to the real world. The first thing I noticed was that we were in Urahara shouten. Urahara and Yoruichi were having tea and Rukia was drawing something to her notebook.

"Captain Hitsugaya! I thought you were coming back tomorrow!" Urahara exclaimed surprised causing Rukia to look up. She smiled brightly at Ichigo, who wasn't able to return it. Her expression changed into worried and she knew something was wrong. It wasn't like Ichigo to be so worried unless something was terribly wrong. She looked at me and I looked back with a grim look.

"Where is Karin?" Yoruichi asked after a quick glance of our group. I sighed deeply.

"She has been kidnapped. We're here to look for her", I told. Yoruichi's eyes widened, Rukia gasped and Urahara was looking serious for once.

"So she's in real world?" Yoruichi asked confused. I shrugged. I didn't want to waste time with explaining everything.

"Let's just say she might be here somewhere", Hisagi helpfully summed up. Urahara nodded.

"You need help with searching? We all know Karin's reiatsu pretty well", Urahara offered. I shot a grateful glance at shopkeeper and nodded.

"That would be helpful. We have no idea where she could be", Ichigo said. We turned to leave when Urahara exclaimed something unintelligent and hurried to the storage of his shop. We stopped to stare after the man. Rukia was standing at Ichigo's side holding a hand against his back comfortingly (she was unable to reach his shoulder).

"I just remembered that I had these! They will help you to notice high reiatsus from farther away", he said throwing us some sunglasses. I held mine with an unbelieving expression.

"HEY! They're just like the ones Ichigo broke!" Renji exclaimed holding his pair. I noticed that mine was similar only with ice-blue edges. I remembered the pair Renji was speaking about indeed had an ability to help one to notice high reiatsu.

_I thought the glasses were Aizen's invention. How does Urahara have so many of these?_

**_Probably made copies when he realized how useful the glasses were. We're talking about a genius._**

"Okay, we should spread out. Remember to keep your communicators on so that when someone finds her they can tell others where she is. No one is to try to save her on their own, is that understood?" I asked, though deciding that if I was the one who found Karin I'd just go in and try to save her and would not wait for backup. One glance at Ichigo told me he was thinking exactly same

"Yes, Captain Hitsugaya!" everyone else except for Ichigo and Urahara said. Yoruichi had disappeared long ago, being the fastest person on earth.

"Let's go! And hurry!" I said and everyone bolted off. Hisagi and Renji were first going to same direction but after noticing each other they went different ways. I headed northwest, where no one else had gone.

_Be near Karin! We need to find you!_

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**Karin's POV**

I slowly started to regain consciousness to notice several things. One, I had a really bad headache. Two, my hands were, to my surprise, not tied. Three, I was in a room which looked like a cell in a cave. It had no windows. And four, it was darn cold. I was almost literally freezing.

"Is anybody there!? Where the hell am I and would you give me more clothes? It's cold in here!" I yelled trying to wrap the thin blanket I had been lying on tightly around my body. I was able to see the puffs my breathing created.

"Shut up human, no one cares!" A female voice said contemptuously. I really hated that person already though I had heard her speak just once. I glared at the door like I was hoping to burn a hole in it.

"Hey, we need to feed the human and make sure she doesn't die. Otherwise the plan won't work!" a male voice said. It was deep and echoed in the cave.

"Whatever. I'm sure she doesn't need that much warmth, she's dating the little ice-prince", the female voice snarled. I decided that I didn't even want to meet that woman.

"What are you two arguing about? I was able hear you from outside and the wind is crazy there", a third voice joined in. This voice I recognized. It belonged to the man who had attacked me in the field.

"The girl is awake and wants to know where she is", the deep male voice answered. I heard a small laugh and the door opened.

"Who the heck are you?" I asked standing up when the man entered. I had already figured out that when I was alone against at least three people and was locked up in a cell somewhere cold fighting them and then running away wouldn't necessarily be the best idea.

"I'm an arrancar as you so cleverly noticed earlier. We have a plan which will help us to avenge Aizen and you, my little girl, are an important part in it", he said grabbing my face. I pushed him away glaring at him warningly.

"Where are we? And why me?" I asked taking another step away from him. If movies had taught me something it was that overconfident evil guys always tell their plans to people they kidnap. I just hoped these guys would be the same.

"We're in north Siberia", the arrancar announced. My eyes widened and I stared at him.

"Siberia? Why the heck Siberia? Why not Spain, or Hawaii or Sahara! Why not some place warm? Why are we in the coldest place on earth!?" I screamed at the man. It was my summer vacation and some idiot kidnaps me and drags me to practically North Pole. Oh joy!

"Because Shinigamis will never search from here! No one expects anyone to hide in Siberia!" he yelled back. I had to admit, he had a good point. I would have never guessed I was in Siberia..

"Okay, so we're in Siberia. Now, why me?" I asked. The movies really teach usable things!

"Boss, I'm not sure if it's a good idea to tell our plans to this girl", the deep-voiced man said. The grey haired arrancar glared at him.

"What can she do? She has no way to tell anyone, she's going to die no matter what", he said angrily. _Yeah, this is straight from some b-class action movie. Great…_

I wasn't scared yet. Okay, he had just told me that they would kill me which was a bit unnerving, but by this far I had seen or heard only three of them. I knew many captain-class Shinigamis, so IF they noticed I was missing (which I hoped they would do soon) they hopefully would try to save me.

At least Toushiro would. But I was in Siberian, which could be a problem for anyone trying to save me. But at least the temperature wouldn't bother Toushiro like it bothered me. I wasn't used to cold weather.

But now that I thought about it again I realized maybe I should be scared. A little. _I really hope Toushiro will soon notice I have disappeared. I don't want to help these guys to accomplish their plan whatever it might be._

"So, we had decided to kidnap someone close to the substitute Shinigami Kurosaki Ichigo and because of that had sent out a lot of Hollows to Karakura town. When you started to date Captain of the 10th division we decided you would be a perfect bait", the grey-haired man told. _That explains the Hollows._

"Now that people will be searching for you they won't be able to watch their back carefully enough and with enough Hollows we will overpower them one by one", the arrancar finished. I had to admit, they had a good idea, but I doubted the captains could easily be overpowered by regular Hollows. Maybe arrancar would be a problem, but there seemed to be only three of them.

"You do realize your plan sucks?" I asked before I managed to stop myself. The man glared at me and I backed away. It was not a good idea to make your kidnapper angry.

"You're just a child, you can't understand nothing", he said. I twitched as I wanted to note him how annoying using double negative was, but judging by his mean look he would not like it.

"You're doing in again", the woman said bored. The man stopped and thought back slapping his forehead.

"Damn, I really need to get rid of that habit", he muttered closing the door behind him and leaving me into the cold cell. And not giving me another blanket.

I shuddered and wrapped my arms around me. I was still wearing my t-shirt and jeans, and that is not the best outfit to be in when you're in Siberia.

I walked to the small bed I had been lying on earlier and pulled the thin blanket to me. I wrapped it around myself and closed my eyes, trying to get some sleep.

Just when I was about to fall asleep the door opened. I glared up and saw a huge dark-haired man with a part of mask over his upper teeth and nose. He was pushing a cart in front of him.

"I brought you your dinner. And there is also another blanket. We can't have you dying on us", he said and left the room. I stood up and walked to the cart, regretting the fact I loved to walk around barefooted. The floor was freezing cold.

I pulled the cart closer to the bed so that I was able to sit on it while inspecting what they had given me. There was another a bit thicker blanket and a bowl full of something orange soup. It was steaming because it was so warm.

I wrapped my hands around the bowl to warm them up. A little sigh escaped my lips as the warmth spread through my hands. I quickly shut my mouth on glared round if anyone had seen me. To my luck, no one had. I wouldn't let them see how grateful I was for the warmth.

I took a careful sip of the soup to test the taste. It wasn't anything great, but it was warm and that was the most important thing to me.

_I need to come up with a way to escape. Even though I'm in Siberia without any money or clothes. But I can't just sit around!_

After I had eaten everything (it wasn't a big bowl) I was trying to think. My head works a lot better when I have eaten, that's a fact.

"Toushiro. You need to find me. If you find me pretty quickly it would be perfect", I whispered staring at the door like he would come through it any second. I stared at the door for about five minutes before I sighed and pulled the covers tighter around my body.

* * *

**Toushiro's POV**

I was running somewhere pretty north because the ground was covered by snow even though it was summer **(A.N. I know that there shouldn't be snow or so cold in the middle of summer, but it's because of the arrancars. They have ice-reiatsus like Toushiro so they make the whole Siberia colder).**

"Found anything yet Toushiro?" I heard a familiar voice from the communicator. I lifted the piece to my mouth and snarled an answer.

"No, I would have told you it Kurosaki. And it's Captain Hitsugaya to you! Why can't you already remember it?" I heard a snort from the other end as Ichigo put the communicator back to his pocket.

"Shiro-chan, are you okay? You know it's not good if you let your feelings take over your mind", Momo's voice rattled from the communicator.

"I know, I'm not letting them do so", I snapped at her. I heard her surprised gasp and felt a little guilty.

"Oi, Captain Hitsugaya, I know you're worried about Karin but try to be a little nicer to Hinamori! She's only worried about you", Renji said. I sighed. He was right.

"Sorry Momo, I guess I'm a little tense", I sighed to the communicator.

"No worries Shiro-chan", she answered and I was sure she was smiling because of the warmth of her voice. I smiled a little smile at the communicator before putting it to my pocket. I pushed the sun glasses up on my face and turned my head around trying to spot high reiatsus.

* * *

_If you can't catch a wave then you're never gonna ride it_

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**Sorry, I have to stop here or this chapter would take few more days before it will be ready. It's shorter than usually, I know, but I think it's also a bit more action-y. A lot more action-y.**

**I had to think about the arrancar really much. I wasn't sure if I would use the original arrancars who had magically revived or some OC arrancars. I ended up doing OC, but I'mnot sure if I'll even name them. I don't really like doing OC characters, they don't fit the story well and it just feels odd making own characters for Bleach. So tell me what you think about them! I really need to know that, I'm so nervous about this!  
**

**Still, I feel unsecure about this chapter. I really hope you like it! I try to update sooner next time, I already have few good ideas. But my next update will be on 'Flower Among Men'.**

**Song quote: You Can't Take Me by Bryan Adams**

**Please, please review it!**

**Thanks and hugs to all of you!**


	18. Ice and Snow

**This is 18****th**** chapter. There will be only one or two after this one, so the story is almost over.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, I don't draw that well.**

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**Karin's POV**

After I had slept despite the cold for some time (I wasn't sure how much time had passed, no windows) I woke up with an idea. I just needed to get out of my cell and then shunpo to the nearest city/village and call home from there.

I know, not really great of a plan but at least it was something. And it could work if the arrancars wouldn't as fast as me and if they would be so confused about my running that they wouldn't start chasing after me immediately.

Now the only thing I needed to do was to find a way to get out off the cell. The arrancars wouldn't probably open the door before the next time they decided to bring me food, which might take some time. I walked to the metal door and hit it with my fist to get the arrancars' attention.

"HEY! Is someone there? I need to go to bathroom!" I yelled. I heard the woman snort but no other noises. It was clear the woman didn't like me and would not open the door.

"Okay then. Don't open it", I mumbled and walked back to the bed. I didn't want to stand on the cold floor when it wasn't necessary. I had decided I would get out by trying to knock the person who would open the door unconscious. I just wished it would be the woman.

I sat to the bed and sighed. I had nothing to do here. I just had to wait for someone to come and open the door. It doesn't go well with my personality to just sit around doing nothing.

"C'mon! I'm bored here!" I yelled in frustration. I heard the woman snort again. I glared at the door before I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on sensing reiatsus around me. I had never been good at it, but at least I was better than my brother.

Outside the door was to my surprise only one reiatsu. It had to belong to the female arrancar, because I had heard her voice. I wondered where the two other men were. Hopefully not hurting anyone I knew.

I stretched my mind farther, trying to spot the men. Finally I felt a cold reiatsu so far away I was barely able to even notice it. I couldn't have even tried to guess who it was, it was too far.

I sighed and opened my eyes again, losing the trace of the reiatsu far away when my concentration wasn't so focused on sensing it.

"What are they doing? I thought they needed to guard me. Well, maybe they don't need all three of them to guard a single girl", I reasoned with myself. My voice echoed in the small cave. I heaved another deep sigh and pulled the blankets around me.

* * *

**Toushiro's POV**

I was running over huge forests and snowy fields. I hadn't seen any signs of civilization in hours. Nor had I noticed even a small reiatsu. It was like this was some kind of empty part of the world.

**_Maybe you should turn around and go to look somewhere else. I don't believe she will be here_**_**,**_ Hyorinmaru said quietly, almost like he was scared of me.

_I can't! What if I turned around and she is here and gets hurt because I wasn't here to help her!_ I answered. Hyorinmaru sighed.

**_But what if she is somewhere else and gets hurt because you're here? _**he asked. I was silent. Hyorinmaru was right about that, but if I turned around it would feel like I was abandoning her.

Suddenly a yellow spot lit up in my glasses. It meant a high reiatsu was near. My face brightened until I realized the reiatsu was coming towards me and was familiar in a different way than Karin's. This one was annoying.

"Kurosaki, what are you doing here? You were supposed to go north!" I said angrily to the orange-haired man when he was close enough to hear my words.

"I'm not going north? Where am I?" he asked confused. I rolled my eyes and buried my face to my hand.

"How were you ever able to invade Soul Society when you don't even know when you're going north and when you're going northwest", I asked already frustrated with the man.

"I didn't need to know what direction I was going then", he told with a shrug. "So, if we're northwest from Japan shouldn't we be somewhere north?" he asked.

**_He was a threat to Soul Society? I'm disappointed._**

_So am I, old friend._

"Yes, we're in Siberia", I answered and turned around to continue my search. Kurosaki coughed.

"What is it?" I asked glaring at him over my shoulder. He was scowling at me.

"There's something I need to know. What is the relationship between you and Karin? You said you're ready to die for her. I didn't know you were that close", he said. I turned around and looked at him curiously.

"So you knew where you were going", I stated after inspecting the substitute Shinigami's face. He shrugged nonchalantly.

"Might have known. Answer my question", he commanded. I turned my back at him.

"I'm going to look for Karin and not chit-chat with you", I told him and shunpoed to the direction I had been heading to before he had stopped me.

"I'm not leaving until you answer", Kurosaki growled and shunpoed after me. I groaned slowing down so that it would be easier to talk while shunpoing.

"Fine. She's a dear friend to me and I don't want to see her getting hurt. Satisfied?" I asked glaring at him. He was now running beside me, looking straight forward.

"No. But I guess that's enough for now. Look", he nodded. I turned my head to look in front of me.

"Is that dark cloud what I think it is?" Kurosaki asked and my eyes widened as I realized what he meant. I gritted my teeth and grabbed the hilt of Hyorinmaru and pulled it off my back.

"Yes it is", I growled and stared at the darker spot in the sky. It was consisted of hundreds, maybe even thousands of Hollows.

"You think we're going the right way?" Kurosaki asked with a small smirk. I glanced at him and nodded, not smiling. I reached for the communicator in my pocket and lifted it to my mouth.

"To everyone, we've spotted huge amounts of Hollows. We're northwest from Karakura. I'd say there are… well, lots of them", I said, giving up on trying to guess how much there were them.

"How much is 'lots of them'?" Matsumoto's voice rattled from the communicator. "I've just encountered a group of about 50 normal Hollows."

"Same here!" Rukia announced.

"I see a group of Hollows too, but there are maybe only 30 of them", Hinamori said.

"I guess there are them in every direction. Hisagi managed to tell that he met Hollows south from Karakura town before his communicator assumedly broke. Here are some too", Renji told huffing. He was clearly already fighting.

"We have lots more in here! There are more than thousand of them!" Kurosaki yelled to his communicator which he had dug from his pocket while I was speaking.

"Ichigo? What are you doing with Captain Hitsugaya? Weren't you going north?" Rukia asked. Suddenly both I and Kurosaki moved the communicators as far from our ears as possible as a terrible crashing sound was heard.

"What happened!? And where?" I asked worriedly. The noise wasn't promising.

"I don't know. Everything is right in here", Rukia answered.

"Matsumoto, Momo, are you two okay?" I asked feeling the worry for the women rise.

"I'm fine Captain. The Hollows haven't noticed me yet", Matsumoto whispered to her communicator.

"Same here Shiro-chan. I guess it was Renji's communicator", Momo said. I sighed in relief. To me, Matsumoto and Momo were more important than Renji. Plus, he had bankai, so he would easily survive some normal Hollows.

"That idiot probably broke his communicator knowing the style he fights", Rukia muttered. "But never mind about that, he won't be killed by regular Hollows. Ichigo, why are you with Captain Hitsugaya?" Rukia asked again, more forcefully than before.

"I got lost, big deal", Kurosaki sighed to the small communicator in his hand. I heard Rukia's and Matsumoto's laughing.

"Who is the closest to Renji?" I asked. I was the leader of our group so I was in charge of all of the other Shinigamis' safety.

"Hisagi is, but his communicator is broken too. I guess I'm next", Rukia answered. I nodded before I realized she wouldn't see my gesture.

"Okay. Get rid of the Hollows in your location and go to check on Renji. From there continue to Hisagi and come to northwest", I commanded.

"Yes sir!" Rukia answered and turned off her communicator with a small click.

"Matsumoto, Momo, you two get rid of your Hollows and come to our location after that. But remember to be look out for Karin's reiatsu", I said.

"Yes Captain!" Matsumoto said and the connection was cut with a click.

"Take care of yourself Shiro-chan", Momo whispered turning of her communicator before I had the change to answer.

"You too", I whispered and put the communicator back to my pocket. I glanced to Kurosaki. He had already pulled Zangetsu from his back and the white cloth had been shortened.

"Let's go to beat some Hollow ass", he said smiling manically. He would most definitely go to 11th Division if he wouldn't become a captain when he would move to Soul Society.

"Try to be quick. We still need to save Karin", I said. The smile disappeared from his face and he nodded solemnly.

"So I need to be fast. We'll that's easy. BANKAI!" he yelled and pointed Zangetsu at the Hollows approaching us. They had been coming closer whole time we spent speaking to the other Shinigamis.

**_He sure likes to use bankai. I'm glad you're fine with shikai,_** Hyorinmaru sighed. It was stressing for a zanpakutou to change shape constantly and bankai wasn't usually for little fights.

"Reign over the Frozen Heavens, HYORINMARU!" I called the dragon. He roared inside my mind and the huge serpentine dragon made of ice soared to the clouded sky and circled around me. The cold air was swirling around me, swaying my hair.

"Go", I told and swung my sword towards the Hollows. The ice-dragon opened its mouth and roared as it hit the Hollows. At least a dozen of them were frozen solid in a second and another dozen lost limbs to the ice.

Kurosaki was flashing around among the Hollows making them disappear before they had the chance to notice his attack coming.

_Sure it's easy to beat regular Hollows with bankai,_ I grumbled annoyedly to Hyorinmaru as Kurosaki started showing off.

_**Try to be the more mature one. Or use bankai too!**_

_Why do I bother talking to you? _I asked and swung my sword to cut a head of from one of the Hollows.

"We're taking way too long! Karin is in trouble and we're here trying to beat regular Hollows", I growled and sent another ice-dragon at the Hollows.

"What other choice do we have? We can't look for her if we have a thousand Hollows after us", Kurosaki yelled and sent a Getsuga Tenshou from his sword. The black attack destroyed a few dozen of Hollows before they realized to move out of the way.

I turned around to attack the next Hollow just in time to see its extended arm inches away from my head. I started to lift Hyorinmaru to guard myself from the attack, but I knew I would never be able to block all of the attack.

"Sing, Benihime", a familiar voice said and the Hollow was destroyed by a crimson blast. I looked at the fading hand before turned to look at the man who had saved me.

"Urahara", I greeted him with a nod. He smiled his usual smile.

"Why, greetings Captain Hitsugaya. I thought you might use some help", he said lifting his hand to his hat as a breeze blew over us.

"Help would be useful. Can you take care of these Hollows with Kurosaki while I go to look for Karin?" I asked turning around and slashing the approaching Hollow in two.

"HEY! I'm coming with you!" Kurosaki yelled angrily. I suppressed a sigh and kicked a Hollow towards him. He stabbed it through the mask.

"Don't worry Captain Hitsugaya, these Hollows won't be a match for me", Urahara smiled, firing another of the red blasts. Kurosaki jumped out of the blasts way, almost losing his eyebrows.

"WATCH WHERE YOU AIM!" he roared at Urahara. The man pulled his fan out of his pocket (seriously, he should be concentrating on fighting!) and answered in his usual teasing tone.

"What are you talking about? It wasn't me." Kurosaki growled and pointed Zangetsu at the green-coated man.

"I saw you! You're –", he started to complain.

"Kurosaki, shut up! If you want to come with me them come and don't complain", I said, vein popping in my forehead. I didn't wait for him to say anything and shunpoed away slicing few Hollows as I went past them.

"You're even grumpier than usually, Toushiro", Kurosaki stated as he caught up with me. I scowled at him.

"It's Captain Hitsugaya to you. And I'm not grumpy, I'm worried about Karin. Like you should be too", I said. I had noticed Kurosaki was way too calm remembering his sister was kidnapped.

"I _am_ worried, but I know Karin can take care of herself at least when her opponents are Hollows", he answered glancing at me a bit angrily. I was really confused about his statement.

**_He considers guys as Karin's 'opponents'. Remember, he lets her fight Hollows but doesn't let her date anyone, _**Hyorinmaru reminded.

_So he's more worried about me saving Karin alone than Karin being kidnapped by arrancars. He's crazy!_ I exclaimed to the dragon.

Suddenly my sunglasses beeped again. I turned my head trying to spot the source.

"What is it Toushiro?" Kurosaki asked. I glanced at him and noticed his glasses were on his forehead which meant they were turned off.

"There is a high reiatsu nearby", I answered, ignoring the fact he called me by my first name. Now was not the time to start complaining about that.

"Could that be Karin?" the orange-haired man asked, moving his glasses to his eyes. I didn't bother answering.

I soon got frustrated with the glasses and tried to sense the reiatsu without them. It took a while but finally I was able to feel the familiar bright reiatsu.

_It's Karin. I found her!_

"This way!" I said and shunpoed to the direction of the reiatsu as fast as I was able. Kurosaki wasn't able to keep up with because of the speed. The wind stung my eyes but I didn't care.

I stopped when I reached a line of mountains. The reiatsu was coming from somewhere inside them but I wasn't able to see any caves.

"Damn, I'm so close! I can't blow up the mountains, I might hurt her in the progress", I groaned to myself just before Kurosaki stopped right next to me. He leaned on his knees to catch his breath before he straightened up.

"So, where is she?" he asked, clearly not even trying to find her reiatsu. He trusted I would be able to feel it.

"Somewhere inside those mountains. Can you see any entrances?" I asked while slowly moving down towards the ground. My feet sunk a few inches to the soft snow.

"I can't see any. Are you sure she is there?" Ichigo asked landing down next to me. He had wrapped his arms around himself because of the cold. I hadn't even noticed how low the temperature was.

"Of course I'm sure! I can feel her reiatsu unlike you", I snapped at him. I lifted his hands above his face defensively.

"Hey Toushiro, relax! If you can feel her reiatsu it means she's okay. I told you she would be fine", Kurosaki said but I heard the mix of relief and anxiety in his voice. Like he was talking to himself.

"I believe that when we see her", I mumbled so quietly the orange-haired man didn't hear me. "We should look for an entrance to a cave. That's the most likely place she will be in", I continued louder.

"You mean from those mountains! They're huge! There could be dozens of caves!" Kurosaki groaned staring at the mountains. Suddenly I felt an unfamiliar reiatsu approaching.

"Hide! And try to contain that reiatsu for once!" I whispered hastily pushing Kurosaki behind a nearby rock. He fell down and his face was buried in the snow.

"HEY-!" he started to complain but I pushed his face back to the snow causing his voice to change into unrecognizable mumbling. Carefully I glanced at the clearing we had stood a moment earlier from behind the rock.

A pink haired woman wearing a white skirt and short jacket was stalking around the clearing. When she turned her face towards me I noticed a part of broken mask across her cheekbones and a Hollow hole in her bare stomach.

_Why isn't she freezing? She is dressed like it was summer,_ I stated confusedly.

**_Well you're not cold either. Maybe she controls ice,_** Hyorinmaru said. He was usually sharp in things like these and it had helped me in countless battles before this.

"What is going on?" Kurosaki asked. I had subconsciously released his head but he had realized to stay quiet. His face was redder than I had ever seen before because of the coldness of the snow.

"I think that is one of the arrancars who kidnapped Karin. Granny was speaking about a man and she is a woman so there is at least one more somewhere. It's odd though, I feel only her and Karin's reiatsus", I summed up to Ichigo. He nodded.

"They might be elsewhere. Maybe they were behind the Hollow attacks at the others or then they're harassing Soul Society because they think they have lowered their defenses", he suggested. I was surprised because his thoughts actually made sense.

_Maybe he isn't as stupid as he looks like._

The arrancar on the clearing dug something from her pocket. It looked like a cell phone. After dialing a number she lifted it to her ear pushing the pink bangs out of the way.

"Finally you answered! Tell me how long do I need to look after the human? WHAT?! Oh c'mon, this is just mean! I don't want to be the babysitter! Yeah, yeah, she's still in the cell. I'm not letting her out. You can do that when you return!" she complained in a sneering voice.

Slamming the phone shut she muttered "jackass" and turned around. She stalked out of the clearing and we followed after her. She walked straight to some trees growing in front of the mountain, moving the branches out of her way. I was able to see the dark entrance of the cave.

"Stop her. It'll be easier to fight her if she isn't in the cave", I commanded. It would be easier to Kurosaki since his bankai raised his speed and he had not stopped using it after we had beaten the Hollows.

The orange-haired man nodded and disappeared only to appear right in front of the pink haired arrancar. She screamed and jumped backwards moving her hand to the sword hanging on her hip.

"Who the- Hey, you're the brat's brother! How did you find us?" she asked recognizing Ichigo. She took more steps away from him towards me. She clearly hadn't noticed me.

"So you're one of the arrancars who kidnapped Karin. I'll make you pay!" I growled and she spun around eyes widening as she saw me.

"_YOU!_" she said, voice raising few octaves higher than it already was. It really hurt my ears.

"I don't know how you found us but you can't stop us! No matter who you are!" she said after recovering from her surprise. She brought her sword in front of her face and yelled: "Fly Pingüino!"

**_It's ironical isn't it, _**Hyorinmaru chuckled. It guessed he meant the name and command of her zanpakutou.

The white cloud of snow which had surrounded her landed and revealed her. She hadn't changed that much, only she now had some black in her clothing and her pink hair was in a Mohawk. Her arms had also changed into penguin arms and had spikes all over them.

"You wanna beat him or shall I?" Kurosaki asked sounding like he was a bit bored. I glared at the woman.

"I'll fight her. I don't like how she speaks about Karin", I said and drew Hyorinmaru from my back. I moved my feet to get a better balance.

"Bankai!" I commanded and ice spurted from the hilt of Hyorinmaru and moved to my back, arms and legs, forming the claws to my hands and feet and wings to my back.

"Hey, you don't have those flower petals behind you anymore!" Kurosaki noticed. It was true, after the winter war I had trained hard to make my bankai mature. Finally I had managed to make it last as long as I wanted. Both I and Hyorinmaru were proud of this fact.

"You can't win me!" the woman shrieked and moved her arms in front of her. The spikes suddenly flew towards me. I moved my left wing in front of me and deflected the spikes. They fell harmless to the ground.

"You're being way too over confident. It's you has no change to win against me", I stated and flapped the wings few times before bolting towards her.

Her blue eyes widened and she tried to turn and run away. Her speed was nowhere near to match mine and I caught her in a second.

"Ruysenka", I whispered when my sword hit her and she was encased within the ice from Hyorinmaru. I turned my back to her and the ice shattered, and she did the same with it.

"That was fast", Kurosaki noted. I looked at him and sighed.

"I'm a captain. She was just a normal arrancar. There is a huge difference in our powers which she should have known", I said. Kurosaki shrugged.

"Maybe, but if I recall, last time you fought against a 'normal arrancar', as you say, Inoue had to do some healing", he sneered. I glared at him coldly and considered freezing him with Ruysenka too.

"The cave is right here. Let's just go and rescue Karin", I said and let my wings and claws fade away. The wings started to feel uncomfortable if I walked around while they were attached to my back.

* * *

**Karin's POV**

I was starting to get hungry again, but I doubted the woman would bring me any food even if I asked. It was like she was holding a grudge against me. Or against humans at general.

First when I had noticed the men were away I was excited because it would be easier to run away while there was only one person guarding me. If I got lucky I might knock them unconscious and run away with no one following.

As the hours went by I started to think that maybe it wasn't so great the woman had stayed here. It was clear she was not going to open the door even if I was dying. She might even be happy if that happened.

I had tried many excuses to get her open the door but she hadn't even answered me once. It was like she was ignoring me. Which she probably was.

I groaned trying to wrap the thin blankets tighter around me. I had tried to move around to warm myself, but it only made me hungrier. So now I was hungry and cold instead of being just cold.

_Isn't this just great! Next time I promise I will listen to Toushiro when he tells not to do something._

I was slowly starting to lose all of the feeling in my toes. I tried to warm them by wrapping my hands around them.

When I was little my father taught me never to rub toes, fingers, cheeks or anything at all that was losing feeling because of the cold. That would just cause damage to the skin tissue. If something was feeling cold you should just wrap something warm around them.

Suddenly I heard footsteps from the other side of the door.

_The men must be returning! Maybe either of them will give me some food. It would warm me too._

The footsteps stopped at the door just as I remembered my plan.

_This might be the only change I get! I just need to act! I can eat at some village I (hopefully) will find._

Quickly I got off of the bed and walked to the door. I heard muffled conversation from the other side of the door. Both voices sounded angry as if they were fighting.

_Good. That way they'll be even more confused._

The lock clicked and the doorknob turned. Someone was starting to push the door open and I took my stance at the side of the door, feet apart and fist ready to fly forward.

As the door opened and revealed a face I yelled a battle cry and threw my fist forward. It made contact with the enterer's nose with a satisfying crunch.

Just then I realized the person I had hit wasn't arrancar but someone much more familiar.

"Ichi-nii? What are you doing here?" I asked staring at my brother who was lying on the floor. His eyes had rolled around and there was a trail of blood coming from his nose. He seemed to be unconscious.

"I sure am glad I wasn't the one who opened the door", another familiar voice said amusedly. I turned to look at the grinning white-haired boy with a big smile forming to my face.

"Toushiro! You came!" I exclaimed and run to hug him. I managed to catch the surprise in his eyes before he smiled and wrapped his arms around me.

"Hello to you too Karin. Are you okay? They didn't hurt you, did they? Because if they did I swear I'll make them pay in the most painful way imaginable", he said putting his hands to my shoulders and pushing me away so much that he was able to check if I had some visible wounds or something.

"I'm fine Toushiro. Just hungry and a little cold", I said. Toushiro noticed how my skin was in goose bumps.

"I believe that. You're wearing shorts and a top! Didn't anyone ever tell you to dress correctly?" he teased removing his haori and wrapping it around my shoulders.

"Well I'm sorry. I wasn't prepared to get kidnapped and taken to Siberia in the morning when I was choosing my outfit. I guess I'll have to notify that next time", I said rolling my eyes. Toushiro chuckled and wrapped his arms around me again.

"I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried about you", he whispered to my ear and I heard how his voice caught in his throat. I moved my hands to his soft hair and patted his head.

"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. I never guessed something could really happen", I whispered back and felt how Toushiro's grip tightened. It was clear he was a bit angry at me for doing what I did but he was just so happy to see me that he didn't show it now. But when we got back home I was going to be in trouble.

"Toushiro, I'm just curious, but why is Ichi-nii with you?" I asked turning my attention back to my unconscious brother on the floor. Toushiro sighed.

"Of course everyone wanted to help with rescuing you and we just happened to come to the same direction. Or rather I was coming to this direction and he wanted to talk to me", he said. I glanced at him curiously.

"About what? I guess it was not just a normal chat", I asked. Toushiro grimaced and I was pretty much able to guess what he had wanted to talk about.

"Did you tell him we're dating? How are you still alive?" I asked and Toushiro chuckled rolling his eyes. He seemed to be so happy, maybe because he had been so worried about me. I felt a little bang of guilt.

"I just said you are a dear friend to me. He was satisfied with that answer for the time being what it was. But we're going to have to answer to some questions I'm sure he will have", he said and now it was my turn to sigh. Telling Ichigo I was dating a Shinigami captain was just downright crazy.

"But about Ichi-nii, what are we going to do with him? He seems to be a little… unconscious", I said smiling sheepishly and rubbed the back of my head.

"And whose fault might that be", Toushiro said rising his eyebrows at me. I shrugged and rolled my eyes.

"I was trying to escape. How was I supposed to know you would be coming through the door instead of the two male arrancars?" I asked as we moved closer to Ichigo. Toushiro poked his ribs with his feet.

"So there are two other arrancars. We already beat the female but the males haven't been here", Toushiro said, poking Ichigo's ribs again, harder this time. He stirred a bit, but didn't wake up.

"Yeah, there is this grey-haired one, he is the one who kidnapped me, and then the other one is deep voiced. I haven't seen him though", I described the two arrancars. I didn't really know much about them.

"Hey, let me do that", I said to Toushiro as he got ready for a third kick to Ichigo's ribs. He looked at me and moved away with a small smirk tugging his lips. I grabbed the glass of water I had noticed on the table earlier and poured it to his face.

He literally jumped up with a high-pitched scream. I tried to suppress my laughter and noticed Toushiro's amused smile from the corner of my eye.

"Morning Ichi-nii. Did you sleep well?" I laughed and he turned his eyes towards me. He had been glaring at Toushiro for some reason.

"KARIN! You're okay! Of course I knew you were but it's still nice to see you're fine", he exclaimed and seized me into a suffocating bear hug. I chuckled warmly.

"Yea yea, Ichi-nii, of course you did", I said as he let go off me. I felt another bang of guilt as I realized how worried he was off me. The idea of going to Rukongai alone seemed to have been one of my worst ideas ever.

"Wait a sec. Why was I on the floor? Who hit me?" Ichigo asked looking around trying to spot a third person. I smiled sheepishly and took a step away from Ichigo and closer to Toushiro. He wrapped his arms around my waist as soon as he was able to reach me.

"We'll, I kinda thought you were an arrancar and hit you in the face. It was my plan to run away", I said. Ichigo looked at me a bit angrily but sighed.

"At least you were trying to escape. Next time just check who are you going to hit before you hit them", he said glaring at me meaningfully. I rolled my eyes.

"Sure Ichi-nii, I'll do that next time I get kidnapped by arrancars", I said sarcastically and Ichigo huffed.

"You know what I mean. Now, we should – Hey wait a sec! WHY ARE YOU HOLDING MY SISTER SO CLOSELY?" Ichigo roared suddenly noticing Toushiro's arm around my waist. I moved a little bit so that I was standing between him and Ichigo. Maybe the crazy brother would not attack him if I was in the way.

"Look, Ichi-nii, there is something you should know", I said slowly, trying to think of the easiest way to explain our relationship to my brother. He was glaring at us with hard eyes.

"I'm dating you sister and you can do nothing about it", Toushiro suddenly said scooping me to his arms and shunpoing out of the cave to leave a surprised Ichigo standing there. He was probably just as surprised of the way Toushiro acted as I was.

"Feeling childish today?" I asked as he shunpoed over the snow-fields. It was pretty cold so I pressed myself closer to him. He noticed this and wrapped his arms even tighter around me.

"I just told the things as they are. Now his brains will be working over the fact long enough for us to run away", he said and I chuckled. It was so nice to be in Toushiro's arms again.

"WATCH OUT!" I suddenly screamed when I noticed a red beam coming at us from behind. He glanced over his shoulder just when the beam hit his back. It caused us to fly forward and I fell off from Toushiro's arms.

"KARIN!" he yelled reaching his hand for me as I fell down towards the ground. I landed into a pile of snow with a small thud. I saw how Toushiro sighed in relief as he saw I was not hurt.

That wasn't quite true though. I felt throbbing pain coming from my ankle which had been bent under me when I fell. It was most likely sprained or even broken, meaning I would not be able to run away.

"Why does this stuff always have to happen to me", I groaned and lifted my eyes to search for the source of the red beam. I didn't have to look long. The two male arrancars were standing in the sky, looking at Toushiro.

"You thought you could ruin our plans, didn't you? Well it didn't work", the grey-haired man said and I almost expected him to start laughing manically, his face was so over confident and crazy.

"I only thought about rescuing Karin and if that is ruining your plans I will do it with pleasure", Toushiro said through gritted teeth. He was so angry. I almost felt bad for the arrancars.

"Hey Toushiro, I'll kill you soon, I'll kill one of these guys first", I heard my brothers voice growl from behind the arrancars. They turned around surprised.

"You take the orange-head. I'll deal with our little captain here", the grey-haired arrancar said. The dark-haired one nodded not saying anything.

"Prepare to die. Dive, Foca!" the arrancar yelled and was wrapped in a white cloud of smoke.

"I could say the same to you. BANKAI!" Toushiro said and ice flowed from his sword to his arm and through there to his legs, other arm and back, forming huge ice-wings and –claws. There was even a tail in his back.

"Wow", I whispered. Toushiro's bankai looked really cool (no pun intended). He looked extremely strong. This was the first time I saw his bankai. Of course I had asked what it was like but it was completely different to see it with my own eyes.

The smoke encasing the arrancar started to disappear and I noticed his legs had melted together forming a tail and his whole outfit had turned grey. He looked really stupid.

"Taste this! Hielo Tsunami!" the man yelled and hit the air with his tail causing a huge wave of water with chucks of ice in it appear and move towards Toushiro at an unbelievable speed. He just remained still and I thought I was able to see a small smirk on his lips.

"Are you an idiot? Hyorinmaru can control all the water in atmosphere and your attack is no different", he said and the water suddenly froze stopping in front of him. He swung Hyorinmaru towards the arrancar and the huge wave of ice moved towards him even faster than the water had moved.

Before he was able to even yell he was buried deep under the heavy masses of ice. Toushiro stared at where he had stood as the ice started disappearing. There was nothing left, indicating the arrancar had lost and dissolved into air.

Meanwhile Ichigo managed to beat the deep-voiced man who had turned to something like a huge ice-bear. I didn't know how he did it, I wasn't following his fight.

Toushiro turned around and landed next to me.

"I'm sorry I dropped you. Are you okay?" he asked kneeling down to the snow next to me. I held his haori around me tightly, the snow was pretty cold.

"I fell on my ankle and it hurts a bit", I mumbled and he looked angry again.

"Let me see", he commanded and I moved the ankle to him, almost kicking him in the face in the progress.

"No worries, it's just sprained. Try to keep your weight off it for a while and it should heal just fine", he said after inspecting it. I raised my eyebrows surprised.

"How do you know that? I thought I was the one whose family owns a clinic", I asked, smiling a bit. I thought I was able to see a tint of red on his cheeks at he shrugged.

"When I was learning to use bankai I usually managed to get my feet caught on something because the claws and sprained my ankles so many times I can't even start to count", he answered. I blinked few times, surprised, before I bursted into laughter.

"What a prodigy are you! Spraining your ankle while learning how to move around", I laughed and Toushiro scowled at me.

"It's harder than it looks like", he defended himself. I smiled at him.

"Of course it is", I said and kissed the top of his nose. I saw his eyes turn warmer as he cupped my cheeks and moved his lips to mine.

"You wouldn't even know", he mumbled before pressing our lips together. I wrapped my hands around his neck and smiled into the kiss. It was so comfortable.

"Toushiro… I will kill you!!" Ichigo growled behind us. We both froze and Toushiro slowly glanced over his shoulder. Ichigo was standing there, looking angrier that I had ever seen.

"Kurosaki, I really can explain", Toushiro said, trying to smile as my brother growled again. This was not gonna end well.

* * *

_I dare you to move, I dare you to move, I dare you to lift yourself up from the floor._

_

* * *

_

**Aaand that's it. You'll have to wait to find out if Ichigo will kill Toushiro. **

**I had a huge writers block when I started writing this but then suddenly I got an idea and everything was perfect! Except the fact it's 2 a.m. and I have school tomorrow. But at least the chapter is finally done! I'm so gonna hate myself in the morning...  
**

**My friend taught me about not rubbing toes that had lost feeling last winter. I was surprised to hear it, but I have to admit, toes get feeling back better when only wrapping hands around them. Or huge mittens like I noticed when we were on driving over frozen lakes in a sleigh pulled by a husky team. It's so fun! But also so darn cold.**

**Some translations:**

**Pingüino=Penguin**

**Foca=seal**

**Hielo Tsunami = ice tsunami**

**Song quote: Dare you to move by Switchfoot**

**Please review! **


	19. Deathberry is here and he's deadly!

**The very last chapter. Please enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach**

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* * *

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_**Karin's Pov**_

_"Toushiro… I will kill you!" Ichigo growled behind us. We both froze and Toushiro slowly glanced over his shoulder. Ichigo was standing there, looking angrier that I had ever seen._

_"Kurosaki, I really can explain", Toushiro said, trying to smile as my brother growled again. This was not gonna end well._

_

* * *

_

"Oh, you can explain! I don't think I need an explanation. NOW GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF MY SISTER!" Ichigo roared at Toushiro. He started to get up, glancing between me and my brother worriedly, but I grabbed the front of his kimono and held him down.

"Don't listen to my brother, he's an idiot", I said. Toushiro looked at me confusedly. I usually didn't act like this. I sighed deeply.

"And I'm cold. So, please, don't start running away from him, at least not without me", I continued, my voice teasing.

"HEY! I'm not planning to run away!" Toushiro said looking a bit hurt. I stuck my tongue at him smile tugging the corners of my lips.

"You sure? I think you've run away from him at least twice by far if I remember correctly", I teased with a wide smirk. Toushiro scowled at me.

"Toushiro, didn't you hear what I said. Get up and face me like a man!" Ichigo growled. Toushiro looked over his shoulder and turned back to me sighing. He wrapped his arms around me and stood up holding me bridal style.

"Kurosaki, you're getting too carried away. So what if I'm dating Karin? It's her choice not yours", Toushiro said and I was able to hear from his voice that he was slowly getting angry. Ichigo opened his mouth to say something back to him but I interrupted.

"Yeah, he's right Ichi-nii! I can decide who I will date!" I said angrily, trying to sound scary. It wasn't as scary as I would have wanted, because the coldness of the air caused my voice to tremble.

"I can decide who you won't date! I mean, how much older he is than you? Hundred years?" Ichigo asked pointing at Toushiro but staring at me. I shrugged glaring back at him.

"So what? Rukia is hundred years older than you and still you date her!" I shot back. This time it was Ichigo's turn to shrug.

"It's different", he said nonchalantly.

"Yeah? Like how?" I asked raising my eyebrow angrily.

"Well, we're both Shinigamis, so I'll pretty much stay as old as I am for a long time once I move to Soul Society. Or rather look as old as I am. Well, you know. And I am older than you so I can decide who is not good for you", Ichigo said moving his eyes to glare at Toushiro.

"I could be a Shinigami if I wanted! Plus, what do you know about who is good for me and who isn't! What if I say Toushiro is the best for me anyone can be?" I yelled at him and squirmed in Toushiro's arms, trying to get down.

"Remember your ankle", Toushiro whispered to me but set me down next to him nonetheless. And at that moment I remember I didn't have shoes and there was snow on the ground.

I screamed because of the surprise and jumped up wrapping my arms around Toushiro's neck. He didn't expect me to do anything like that and lost his balance causing us both to fall back into the snow.

"Sorry, no shoes", I said smiling sheepishly. Toushiro laughed at me and rubbed his nose against mine but his laughter died when Ichigo started growling again.

"Okay, now you're so dead!" Ichigo said taking Zangetsu from his back and bolting towards us. Toushiro's teal eyes widened in horror and he just pushed me off of him, spun around and shunpoed to the opposite direction. In mere seconds both Ichigo and Toushiro were just two spots in the horizon.

"This is just great", I mumbled annoyedly. I sat up and tried to hold my feet in the air.

"Remember that I have summer clothes on!" I yelled into the direction the boys had disappeared to. Of course they couldn't hear me.

I sighed and looked around. There were just piles of snow and some pine trees. I sighed again. What was I going to do now?

"Karin! What are you doing here alone!" a surprised voice said behind me, catching me off-guard. I tried to get up to be ready to defend myself from an attacker and shivered when I got snow under my shirt.

"Renji! You just on time! Quick, help me up!" I said when I recognized him and reached my arm towards him. He blinked a few times confusedly but took my hand and helped me up. I shuddered as the cold snow met my bare feet.

"Cold, cold, cold!" I said switching the foot I was standing on, though my left ankle was hurting so much it was hard to stand on it.

"Where are your shoes?" Renji asked staring at my feet.

"I didn't have shoes when I was kidnapped! I wasn't planning for this to happen", I complained. I wrapped my arms around myself and hoped the haori Toushiro had given me had longer sleeves. It was really cold.

"Oh right! So, where are Toushiro and the Strawberry? I thought they came this way?" Renji asked looking around.

"Ichigo caught Toushiro kissing me and is chasing him across the world. Judging by the speed they left they might be half way across the pacific by now", I said glaring into the direction they had disappeared. Renji bursted into loud laughter.

"You poor little girl", he said patting my head. I glared at him as menacingly as I was able. He laughed again.

"Maybe they'll come back some time. Need a lift back home?" he asked. I nodded. "Yes please. It's so damn cold in here!"

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get you back to warmer climate", Renji said and lifted me up to his arms in a swift movement. I sighed in relief when I got my feet off the cold ground.

"Thank you Renji, you're a life-saver", I said smiling and wrapping my hand around my toes to warm them up. I felt them tingle as the blood started to circulate faster again.

"Now, which way is back?" Renji said looking around confusedly. I hit my forehead with my hand and looked at him desperately.

"Don't tell me you have no idea? Then call someone! You must have some way to contact the others!" I said and sneezed. Seems like I was going to get a cold. _Why must this happen to me?_

"I kinda broke it. I was fighting some hollows way away in the south when one managed to land a hit on me and my communicator fell and broke. After I had beaten the Hollows I had no idea which way to go so I came this way. Then I felt Ichigo's reiatsu and tried to come to find him but found you instead. So I have no idea where we are, but I'm guessing were not in south", he said looking around.

"No shit, Sherlock!" I mumbled, though I was really glad he had gotten lost into this direction. Otherwise I might have had to sit in the snow for God knows how long!

"We'll take a lucky guess and go this way!" Renji said cheerfully and shunpoed to the opposite direction than what Ichigo and Toushiro had gone. I really hoped his lucky guess was better than mine usually were.

* * *

**Toushiro's POV**

I swear Kurosaki has gotten faster during the time I was in Soul Society! He wasn't that fast last time he was chasing me. Or then he's just so angry he's drawing out power he didn't know he had.

**_You have been slacking off! If you just always to paperwork you'll become weaker,_** Hyorinmaru said. I just growled as an answer and looked over my shoulder to check how close the orange-haired substitute Shinigami was.

"TOUSHIRO! STOP SO THAT I CAN BEAT YOU INTO AN UNRECOGNIZABLE PILE OF MEAT!" he roared.'

"Are you completely stupid! Who on earth would stop after you yell something like that?" I yelled back.

**_Run Toushiro, run. Faster than the wind, faster than the light, run till you see the golden sun,_** Hyorinmaru hummed.

_Since when have you been a poet?_

**_Since I decided I was tired of being just a sword. I'll write a book!_**

_Good luck with that…_

"Kurosaki, please calm down! You're overreacting. Let's just talk. Remember, we left Karin alone to somewhere in Siberia! Shouldn't you be a protective brother?" I yelled over my shoulder.

"WHY did you leave her there? I thought you were supposed to protect her?" Kurosaki yelled at me sounding horrified.

"Because you idiot bolted at me! I had no time to take Karin with me! You really are an idiot…", I sighed the last part under my breathe.

"Stop now so that I can beat you up and go to rescue her!" Ichigo roared again. I sighed and stopped. Kurosaki hadn't expected me to do so and ran past me.

"You stopped?" he asked staring at me surprisedly. I nodded.

"I figured there was no other way to talk to you. Now listen! I know we probably should have told you earlier about us, but Karin was afraid you'd react like that. So now be a mature big brother and calm down", I said forcing my voice to stay calm.

"Let me think about that… how about no? BANKAI!" Ichigo yelled and the black cloud surrounded him. When the cloud dissolved he had already called his mask.

"We don't need to fight you idiot!" I yelled at him and dodged the black Getsuga he shot at me.

"I won't let you touch my sister again!" Ichigo yelled, his voice quivering the way it always did when he had his mask on. It was a bit scary.

"Then you leave me no choice", I sighed. "BANKAI!"

The ice from Hyorinmaru floated through me and formed the wings, claws and tail. I glared at Ichigo.

"So you will fight with me for her. I'm impressed", Kurosaki said and shot another Getsuga Tenshou at me. I moved my wing in front of me to guard myself.

"It seems like I have to. Though this won't take long", I said. After the Winter war I had improved my bankai, and I was now able to use many of it's abilities faster than I used to. Also it was easier for me to use my abilities here where there was so much ice and snow. So I did something I wouldn't have been able to do five years ago.

"Sennen Hyoro!" I said pointing my sword at Kurosaki. Ice-pillars rose from the ground and surrounded him completely.

"Wai- wha?" he said gazing over his shoulders to look at the pillars. I couldn't help but smirk.

"You'll need to cool down for some time", I said and turned my sword clockwise. The pillars moved swiftly closer to Ichigo, but not to kill him I did let the pillars crush him. He was just locked within the ice without being able to move. Knowing him, that wouldn't slow him down that much.

"I hope your head cools down while you're in there. I'll go pick up Karin. See you at Urahara's!" I called and waved at him. I was able to see how he growled at me, but the ice prevented him from moving so that was all he was able to do.

Smiling a satisfied smile I turned around and shunpoed towards the place I had left Karin.

After five minutes of running I noticed familiar trees and slowed down. Other thing I noticed was the lack of Karin's reiatsu.

_She should be around here… Where could she have gone with a sprained ankle?_ I wondered starting to get a little worried. Who knew what kind of wild animals she could have encountered.

**_Once again you're thinking too much. Maybe her ankle wasn't hurt so badly and she's currently shunpoing towards Karakura, _**Hyorinmaru suggested, but the worry was clear in his voice too.

_No one shunpoes far with a sprained ankle. I've tried if you don't remember,_ I noted, though I was sure Hyorinmaru did remember. He often teased me how it was hard for me to learn to walk in bankai.

**_Maybe she met a polar bear and is riding home in its back! Stop worrying and start searching for her reiatsu you young idiot!_**

Muttering angrily under my breathe I did as Hyorinmaru told. Closing my eyes I concentrated on the warm reiatsu of Karin. I searcher first from a small range but widened it quickly when I couldn't find her. I was getting a bit panicky, though I would never admit it.

Just as I was going to quit searching I felt a faint tinge of the familiar reiatsu and let out a relieved breathe I didn't realize I was holding. _She is okay._

Then another thought crossed my mind. _How come she is so far from here?_

**_A friendly polar bear?_**

_I really doubt that…_

I quickly shunpoed after the reiatsu before I would lose it completely. It seemed to be moving relatively towards Karakura town so I figured she must have met someone, probably Urahara, who was now taking her back home.

* * *

**Renji's POV**

After I had picked Karin up I first shunpoed in a pretty slow speed but when I noticed her temperature was rising I sped up.

"Are you feeling okay? You don't look so good", I said looking at the small girl worriedly. Her eyes were glistening and I was sure she already had fewer. She coughed few times before relaxing in my arms again.

"I think I've caught a cold. That's what you get for spending time in the north with only summer clothes on", she said smiling weakly. She was looking really sick. And I'm not good with sick people.

"We should be at Karakura soon. You loom tired so if you can, try to get some sleep. I doubt you have been able to sleep well in that cell of yours", I said. She smiled faintly. Her eyes were already half closed.

"You're right, I am pretty tired. Wake me up when Toushiro returns, will ya?" she mumbled barely managing to make the words understandable.

"Sure sure, he'll be here soon", I smiled at her. I had never been good at recognizing emotions and such but it was clear that she was in love with the tiny captain. Good for them.

Karin took a firmer grip on the haori she was wearing and drifted to sleep. Her breathing slowed down slowly and in few minutes she was snoring.

_Look at that, Toushiro is correct! She drools! _ I noticed with a small laugh.

It took about half an hour from me to reach area that I recognized and from there about five minutes to make my way to Urahara shouten.

The red-head kid and the quiet girl were outside the shouten, cleaning the front. Or at least Ururu was cleaning, Jinta was once again practicing his baseball skills with the broom.

"Hiya! Has Urahara already returned?" I asked landing in front of the kids. They both looked at me and then at Karin in my arms. Both seemed surprised to see Karin.

"Is she okay?" Ururu asked carefully. I was surprised, she usually remained silent. She was probably friends with Karin and that was the reasons he overcame her shyness.

"Just a little cold. She'll be her usual self before you even realize", I told. Ururu blushed and nodded.

"The owner returned about five minutes ago. He should be inside", Jinta said spinning the broom around. I nodded and passed him as far as I was able to avoid being hit in the head by the broom.

Suddenly I heard a scared gasp behind me. The voice was oddly familiar, though I wasn't able to recognize it.

"What happened to Karin?" the girl behind me asked with worry apparent in her voice. Right, that was Yuzu, the third Kurosaki sibling. I turned around and saw her looking at Karin with hands over her mouth. I was kinda surprised to see her without her blue pet-cat. Maybe Grimmjow was at the clinic.

"Don't start panicking, she is just sleeping", I said quickly, because the girl looked like she could faint any moment. She lowered her hands and looked at me expecting a further explanation. I sighed.

"Just follow me inside, I think there are other people who can do the explaining much better than I can", I said and turned around. I heard the quick padding of her feet as she ran after me.

"Ah, Abarai-kun, long time, no see. I hope you're alright- hey, is that Karin?" the green man asked when we he spotted us.

"She probably caught a cold in the north. I told her to get some sleep because she looked like she was tired", I said. Urahara nodded and the smile which had disappeared momentarily returned.

"Of course, that's understandable. Just wait a moment", the man said and turned towards the closet behind him. After rummaging through it he pulled out a futon, blanket and a pillow from the closet. He spread the futon on the floor.

"There, you can put her there", Urahara said moving the blanket out of the way. I placed the small girl carefully on the futon and he moved the blanket to cover her.

"She seems to have some fewer. Not too high though", the shop-owner said placing his hand on Karin's forehead. She mumbled something incoherent and turned around in her sleep. Yuzu sat next to her head and was looking at her worriedly, though she had calmed down somewhat.

"So what has happened?" she asked finally lifting her eyes to look at us. For the first time I realized how much she could look like Ichigo.

"Karin got kidnapped", a soft voice told from the doorway. I was sitting my back towards the door so I gazed over my shoulder. Captain Hitsugaya walked in and sat down at the other side of Karin's head.

"What?" Yuzu asked, eyes wide open. Hitsugaya nodded and brushed absentmindedly some strands away from Karin's face. He looked at her face for a moment before lifting his eyes and starting to explain things to Yuzu.

Karin wasn't the only one in love. I had never seen Captain Hitsugaya like that and it was downright said a little scary.

* * *

**Toushiro's POV**

After I finished explaining everything to Yuzu she sat in silence thinking about what she had just heard. Finally she sighed and a small smile appeared on her lips.

"That sounds exactly like some trouble Karin could get by not doing what she was told", she said and I smiled at her. She knew her sister really well.

"The main thing is she is okay. But it sounds like nii-chan is going to cause some trouble to you", Yuzu continues smiling compassionately. I grimaced.

"Yeah, he really didn't take the information well. I really hope he hasn't been able to make his way through that ice yet", I said.

* * *

**Somewhere in Siberia**

"Hey look! That looks like Captain's Sennen Hyoro!" Matsumoto exclaimed pointing straight ahead. Rukia lifted a hand over her eyes to see better.

"Yes, and it looks like someone is inside it", she said. The two women shared a look and quickly shunpoed closer.

"Rukia, tell me if I'm wrong, but isn't that Ichigo?" Matsumoto asked pressing her face against the ice pillar.

"It is him or he has an identical twin he never told me about", she sighed. It was pretty clear what had happened here.

"So Ichigo apparently knows about Captain and Karin-chan", Matsumoto said. Rukia nodded.

"And he didn't take it well", the taller woman continued. Another nod.

"Should we let him out?" Matsumoto asked turning to look at Rukia. She seemed to ponder it for a while before nodding with a deep sigh.

"Okay, I can handle this. Growl, Haineko!" Matsumoto said and guided the ash to surround the ice-pillar. With a small movement she sliced big chunks of ice off. It was enough to enable Ichigo to get free.

"WHERE IS THAT BRAT! LET ME AT HIM!" he roared the second he was out of the ice. Matsumoto scowled at the boy. She didn't like her captain being talked like that. But she wasn't crazy enough to mention it to the young Kurosaki.

"I'd say he's back at Karakura", Rukia suggested. Ichigo was looking around with rage in his eyes and looked really much like an angry bull. With orange hair.

"Just wait YOU BRAT!" Ichigo roared and bolted towards Karakura faster than he had ever run before. Matsumoto and Rukia shared a look and shunpoed after the man. Maybe they should have left him in the ice after all.

* * *

**Back at Karakura (Toushiro's POV)**

Karin shifted a bit turning her face at me. Everyone in the room stopped moving like fearing they were the one who disturbed her sleep.

She blinked a few times sleepily before her eyes met mine. I smiled at her confused face.

"Morning. Did you sleep well?" I asked with a gentle smile. She yawned and smiled with eyes barely open.

"Somewhat. I feel a little sore and sick. Where am I and why am I here?" she asked sitting up and rubbing her eyes sleepily. Karin was never a quick at waking up. Suddenly she was almost choked by Yuzu who grabbed her into a tight hug.

"I missed you so much and can you imagine my reaction when I see you're back but you're unconscious! Why can't you take care of yourself better? Or at least listen to Toushiro?" she said almost sobbing. Karin hugged her get back gently and patted her back.

"Sorry about that. I never realized someone would want to kidnap me", she said and I caught her eye over Yuzu's shoulder. I looked at her a bit angrily and she looked back guiltily. Exhaling slowly I closed my eyes and opened them again smiling at her. She smiled back and let go of her sister.

"So where are we and why?" she asked again looking around herself, probably recognizing the surroundings.

"We're at Urahara's. Renji brought you here after I and Ichigo… left you alone in the snow", I said looking really embarrassed. Yuzu glared at me a bit angrily. Karin's eyes widened as she remembered what had happened.

"Right!" she exclaimed and sneezed right after that.

"Maybe you should lie down. You have a slight fewer!" I said putting a hand on her shoulder. She shook her head.

"I don't feel as sick as I did before my nap. I can sit", she said and pushed my hand gently away. I sighed but let her be. She didn't want to appear to be weak. And she was right, she didn't look that sick. Her eyes glistened a bit and her cheeks were redder than usually, but otherwise she looked like her old self. Like she was ready to jump up and play soccer.

"What happened to Ichi-nii? I hope he didn't hurt you", Karin suddenly said checking me from head to toe. I smirked before trying to look hurt.

"You think he could actually beat me. I'm wounded", I said. Karin rolled her eyes and smirked.

"To answer your question, he's probably still frozen solid somewhere in Siberia", I told. Karin eyed me carefully and I was sure she was somewhat worried about her brother's well-being.

"Don't worry, knowing him, he's going to soon get himself free if he isn't already. And when he's free he's sure to come here, so we need to know what we'll say to him", I noted and Karin sighed falling back to the futon.

"Sometimes I wished he would be our little brother, not big brother. Things would be easier to handle", she said and Yuzu giggled. I smiled compassionately.

"Hey Yuzu! Grimmjow is here! Do you want him to stay outside or can he come in", Jinta called from the front.

"Let him in, I promise he won't destroy anything", Yuzu called back. Jinta slid the door open and my eyes widened in shock. My jaw fell open and I couldn't remember how to close it.

**_Wow. Just wow, _**Hyorinmaru said. My thoughts were similar.

Karin looked at my shocked face and rose back to a sitting position. Seeing Grimmjow her expression changed in a similar way.

"Holy shit! What has happened to him?" Karin managed to choke out. In front of us wasn't the small kitten Grimmjow had been when we left. He had grown A LOT!

He looked like a small tiger. Maybe the size of a snow leopard, and he pretty much had the same form too. His blue eyes shone brightly and they had this intelligent glow in them.

Otherwise he looked like the same cat he had been earlier. Almost completely white fur, with a little blue around his eyes, on the tips of his ears and on the end of his tail. There was also some blue in his paws.

"I guess he isn't a normal kitty. I've also noticed that people without reiatsu can't see him, which is a good thing", Yuzu said shrugging.

"He certainly isn't a normal kitty", Karin mumbled so quietly that I barely heard it. When the blue cat approached Yuzu, Karin tensed up but as he started purring she relaxed again. Yuzu smiled brightly and rubbed him between his ears.

"Ichi-nii told me about the Grimmjow he fought in the past when he noticed little Grimmy was the size of a small collie. I think he might have some connection between that Arrancar, but my Grimmy is a good kitty, aren't you", Yuzu said cooing to Grimmjow. He purred even more.

"At least you have someone to guard you from Hollows now", Karin said shrugging it off. Yuzu nodded smiling brightly. Grimmjow lied down next to her eyeing Karin curiously.

"So back to business, how are we going to keep Ichi-nii from killing you?" Karin asked and I sighed. Just then Urahara poked his head around some random corner he and Renji had disappeared to. It appeared they had been fixing Renji's communicator.

"You guys better hurry up getting bright ideas, Ichigo has been unfreezed and is heading this way", he said holding up the communicator. Suddenly it beeped and exploded.

"I guess I wasn't able to fix it after all", he sighed and disappeared behind the corner again. Karin, Yuzu and I were left staring after him. Grimmjow was already sleeping.

"So we'll just need to calm Ichigo down for long enough that we can make him understand there's nothing he can do or say about this", Karin said making a circle with her hand around me and herself. I nodded.

"I'll be a decoy and you knock him out so that we tie him up", I said with a serious expression. Karin slapped the back of my head.

"C'mon Toushiro, I need some real ideas!" she said, though I didn't miss the small smile tugging the corners of her lips.

"Just talking won't probably work. At least it didn't work before", I sighed. There weren't many other choices.

"Toushiroo!" a quiet voice roared so far away that I could have mistaken it for wind if I didn't feel the crazy reiatsu in the same direction.

"He's coming", Karin said in a bit scared voice, like she was talking about a storm or something like that. I drew in a long breathe and tried to gain a good composure so that I wouldn't start fighting with Kurosaki immediately.

We knew Ichigo had arrived when he came through the roof. I heard a faint protesting yell from Urahara and figured either Renji or Ichigo would be the one fixing the roof.

"Now you can't escape", Ichigo growled pointing Zangetsu at me. He was still in bankai.

"Ichigo, put the sword away, I just want to talk to you", I said lifting my hands in front of my face. There was no change in Ichigo's position.

"Ichi-nii, just listen to us! Stop being so angry at Toushiro! He hadn't done anything wrong!" Karin exclaimed and stood up. While she was sleeping Urahara had healed her ankle.

"Except he seduced you behind my back!" Ichigo said back. Karin looked at him with a blank expression before she started to giggle.

"Toushiro*giggle* seducing someone! *giggle* That's just priceless!" she managed to say before collapsing on the floor with a giggle-fit. I looked at her rolling my eyes but I had to agree her about that. I wasn't a seducer, or at least I didn't think I was.

"Listen to your sister Ichigo. I can tell you this much, you can't stop me from dating Karin no matter what you do", I said solemnly. Ichigo glared at me, but the glare lacked the rage it had earlier.

"I still want to fight with you for her!" he said. I heard how Karin slapped her forehead. She started mumbling something and I just stared at Ichigo dumbstruck.

"Prepare to be defeated!" Ichigo roared getting the rage back and was about to bolt at me when I heard what Karin was mumbling.

"-the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws", she finished and I moved out her way as quickly as I was able.

"Sokatsui!" she yelled and caused a blue energy burst to fly towards Ichigo. He barely had time to turn around when it hit him and send him flying through the wall. Another protesting sound from Urahara.

"Sorry about the wall!" Karin yelled. I stared at her surprised.

"Since when have you been able to use kido?" I asked. She turned to look at me and smirked.

"Did you think I just casually hung around with Momo? She's the kido expert! Of course I asked her to help me to learn kido. I can't fire anything powerful without an incantation but it's better than what Ichigo can do", she said. I had to admit, it was understandable. She always wanted to become stronger and kido was the one last thing she needed to learn before she could become a Shinigami. Now she knew even that.

"Anyone gonna pick up the carrot-head?" Jinta yelled from the hole in the wall. I sighed and shunpoed next to the unconscious Ichigo. Picking him up I whispered: "You have a scary sister", before I carried him inside.

* * *

**Karin's POV, an hour later.**

Ichigo finally woke up. I guess I might have overdone it, but I'm not good at controlling my strength when using kido yet. Just give me few months and I might be a lot better.

"What happened?" Ichigo asked jumping up from the futon he was on. It wasn't the same futon as mine, Toushiro had insisted I stayed on it in case I might feel like I was going to pass out.

"I used kido. Don't ask, I'll explain later", I said. Ichigo turned his head to face me and his expression immediately turned grim. I guess he didn't like the fact I was practically sitting on Toushiro's lap. He opened his mouth to protest but I didn't let him even start.

"Now before you start yelling again we need to make few things clear to you. One, my life isn't something you can control, which means I can date whoever I want. Two, there is no way on earth you can separate me and Toushiro because three, I love Toushiro", I said.

Ichigo was silent for a long time which he spent just staring at us. He seemed to be deep in thought. I yawned and rested my head against Toushiro's chest.

"I have a question for Toushiro", Ichigo finally said, sounding so calm and not angry that I was surprised.

"Ask away, I'll answer if can", Toushiro said. I noticed he was not complaining about Ichigo using his first name, but I knew it wouldn't stay so. He just didn't want to anger my brother now.

"Will you promise to take care of her?" Ichigo asked staring at Toushiro. My mouth fell open and I felt bit uneasy. It was like Toushiro was going to marry me. Well, that would probably happen someday, but not someday soon.

Toushiro nodded solemnly. The seriousness of the boys was starting to scare me. Finally Ichigo smirked darkly.

"Good. Cause if you ever hurt her I'll enjoy beating you into that unrecognizable pulp I mentioned earlier", he said. Toushiro returned the smirk.

"Like you ever could. And Kurosaki. Please call me Captain Hitsugaya", Toushiro sighed. Ichigo's smirk widened.

"Never gonna happen, shorty!" he said before disappearing. I started after him, mouth still hanging open.

"Do you think I damaged his brains that badly?" I whispered when he was gone. Toushiro started laughing.

"I'm glad if you did", he said squeezing me tighter against his chest. I smiled happily.

* * *

_I feel alive, I feel a love, I feel a love that's real_

_

* * *

_

_**The End**_

**Snif. My first fanfic is finally finished.**

**I'm so sorry I took so long to get the last chapter out. I have only one explanation. School. It was torture. But now it's over and it's finally summer vacation! Happy summer to everyone!**

**Please read my other story, I'll try to update it before weekend. If I can't it might take a couple of weeks to update again because I'll be in Italy. But I'll write the chapter eventually.**

**I've been thinking about making a one-shot sequel to this story. Maybe I'll do it, maybe I won't. What do you think?  
**

**Song quote: Walking on sunshine by Aly & A.J.**

**I thank you all for reading my story, and even though it's now over, please review.**

**A big hug to all of you!**

**~Vilu**


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